CASEY RYAN: Most States Now Prohibit Men From Playing In Women’s Sports

After only six months into President Donald Trump’s second administration, most states are now prohibiting men from participating in women’s sports.

This is great news for our nation’s student athletes who deserve fair opportunities, and it is a complete reversal for some states compared to last year.

In total, Defending Education found in a new report that 32 states currently prohibit males from playing in female sports and are compliant with the Trump administration’s Title IX rules as a result. These states have either passed laws banning men from women’s sports, or their state athletic associations have enacted new rulings to that same effect.

In the past few years, this list consisted of predominantly red states that reliably vote Republican. Purple and blue states are now on that list as well, such as New Hampshire, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Based on the timeline of the changes, this shift seems to be a direct result of Trump’s policies.

On Feb. 5 shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order interpreting Title IX to explicitly ban biological males from school sports designated for females.

The administration explained in the executive order that “ignoring fundamental biological truths between the two sexes deprives women and girls of meaningful access to educational facilities.” The federal government will “rescind all funds from educational programs” that are not compliant.

This executive order is in addition to a federal judge in January striking down Joe Biden’s Title IX rules that would have potentially allowed men in women’s athletics, leaving the first Trump administration’s Title IX rules still in effect. The first Trump administration’s Title IX guidance also pushed back against transgender ideology.

The Department of Education has launched investigations into states and schools that are not compliant this year and is attempting to follow through with its threats to rescind federal funding.

In April after initiating a Title IX investigation, the Education Department (ED) began the process to strip Maine of federal K-12 funding. Maine Gov. Janet Mills has defiantly allowed males to continue playing in female sports. She infamously told Trump in February that she would see him in court over the issue. Now she definitely will. Just last month, ED found that the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) were also in violation of Title IX for permitting men in women’s sports.