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.
Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom stating that men playing in women’s sports was “unfair” earlier this year, he has continued to allow it to happen. California allowed a biological boy to win first place in a girls’ high jump and triple jump state championship in June.
The Trump administration is taking swift action offering CDE and CIF a resolution agreement “to resolve their Title IX violations.” This agreement would require the CDE and CIF to rescind guidance that allows men in women’s sports, restore individual records and awards for female athletes, and apologize to female athletes who have suffered from a result of their policies.
One look at the states that now are compliant with Title IX shows that the Trump administration’s aggressive approach is working.
While New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed a bill into law last year prohibiting boys in K-12 girls’ sports, the state’s interscholastic athletic association finally codified the ruling in February. The interscholastic athletic associations for Pennsylvania and Wisconsin updated their guidance to follow Title IX that same month.
Virginia’s athletic association also flipped after Trump signed the new Title IX executive order. Gov. Glenn Youngkin praised his state’s move on social media stating that “common sense wins.”
There are still 18 states that are not compliant with Title IX, but more will likely fall in line for the better once the Trump administration begins the process of taking more of them to court and stripping them of federal funding.
The fact that so much progress has been made with 32 states now aligning with commonsense policies on biological sex shows that Trump’s plan is having a positive impact.
America just needed a president who was not afraid to make rogue states follow the law.
Whereas the Biden administration cowered in fear to radical transgender activists, Trump has put his foot down. The safety and dignity of young girls are now prioritized over the feelings of troubled individuals who legitimately need help rather than affirmation.
Casey Ryan is a writer and investigative reporter at Defending Education.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
(Featured Image Media Credit: US Department of Education via Flickr)
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