
Two boys who identify as transgender girls appeared on MSNBC Sunday night, where guest host Paola Ramos praised them for their âextremely courageousâ stand after they complained about President Donald Trumpâs efforts to prohibit men from competing in womenâs sports.
Trump signed an executive order Feb. 5 that directed federal agencies to pull funding from schools that fail to âtake all appropriate action to affirmatively protect all-female athletic opportunities and all-female locker rooms.â Attorney Chris Erchull, who is representing the boys in a lawsuit challenging Trumpâs order, claimed during the segment that the two boys were no different than other girls who played sports.
âTransgender girls play both sports for the same reasons as any other students. Sports are essential to education,â Erchull told Ramos, the daughter of Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos, who was guest hosting âAyman.â âFor so many young people, sports is where they develop life skills like leadership, teamwork, self-discipline, confidence. These are skills that Parker and Iris are going to need when theyâre adults.â
Prior to Erchullâs comments, teenagers Parker Tirell and Iris Turmelle, who sued to block Trumpâs executive order Wednesday after previously challenging New Hampshireâs ban on biological boys competing against girls, spoke with Ramos about their reasoning behind the legal actions.
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âIt pretty much means the world to me. Iâve been playing for 12 years. Itâs just really important,â Tirrell told Ramos, who asked, âFor you, Parker, what was â whatâs the sort of motivation behind this lawsuit? What does that mean to you?â
âThe motivation behind it was just me wanting to continue to do one of the things that I love most in my life,â Tirell claimed.
Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump said he supported banning biological men from competing in womenâs sports, notably saying he would âjust ban itâ during an Oct. 16 town hall moderated by Fox News host Harris Faulkner.
âI would not be able to try out for tennis, for track and field,â Turmelle said. âI would not be able to try new things. I would be stuck doing things that I might necessarily not like the next year. I could be stuck in the same thing over and over.â
The executive order Trump signed on Feb. 5 aims to require transgender identifying individuals to participate on sports teams that align with their sex rather than their preferred gender.
Erchull attacked Trump over both the executive order involving womenâs sports and his Jan. 20 executive order declaring that sex was ânot changeable.â
âThe current administration has launched a targeted and sustained attack aimed at making it impossible for transgender people to function in society. Itâs employment, itâs housing, itâs travel, medical care, education,â Erchull told Ramos. âWhat weâve seen in the last four weeks since the inauguration has been dehumanizing, and itâs been chilling. And the targeting of vulnerable transgender children is just beyond the pale. Iâm so grateful and Iâm so proud that Parker and Iris are willing to stand up and fight for their rights.â
Ramos then singled out one of the biological boys for praise.
âWhat youâre doing is extremely courageous, thereâs a lot of other trans girls that are observing what you both are doing and that are paying attention,â Ramos told Turmelle. âSome may feel scared, others are feeling inspired.â
The issue of males who identify as transgender competing in womenâs sports garnered national attention following Lia Thomasâs participation in the 2022 NCAA championships, where the biological male won the 500-yard womenâs final. Many athletes have since cited concerns about the safety of women when competing against biological men.
âMany sport-specific governing bodies have no official position or requirements regarding trans-identifying athletes,â Trumpâs Feb. 5 executive order says. âOthers allow men to compete in womenâs categories if these men reduce the testosterone in their bodies below certain levels or provide documentation of âsincerely heldâ gender identity. These policies are unfair to female athletes and do not protect female safety.â
Multiple college teams elected to forfeit matches against San Jose State Universityâs womenâs volleyball team in 2024 due to the presence of a male on the San Jose State roster, according to the Los Angeles Times. The transgender player spiked a ball into the face of a San Diego State University player during an Oct. 10 match, the New York Post reported.
North Carolina high school volleyball player Payton McNabb also suffered a career-ending concussion when a male opponentâs spike hit her in the face in a similar play during a September 2022 volleyball match. She described her ongoing medical symptoms in legislative testimony given in April 2023.
Trump also signed an executive order regarding child sex change procedures on Jan. 28, calling it âa stain on our Nationâs history.â
âCountless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding,â Trump wrote. âMoreover, these vulnerable youthsâ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.â
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