The NCAA Doesn't Have to Ban Trans Women From Sports. It's Doing So Anyway
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will ban transgender women and girls from women's sports leagues to comply with an executive order from President Trump, NCAA President Charlie Baker announced this week.
Trump's latest anti-trans executive order, titled 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports,' threatens to withhold funding from schools and universities that allow trans women to play in women's competitions and directs state attorneys general to develop policies barring trans athletes from participation. Although the order itself does not carry the power to ban trans participation unilaterally — despite White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt's claim to the Associated Press that the order requires 'immediate action' — Baker confirmed in a statement that the NCAA would change its policies to comply with the order.
'The NCAA Board of Governors is reviewing the executive order and will take necessary steps to align NCAA policy in the coming days, subject to further guidance from the administration,' Baker wrote in his statement Wednesday evening, adding that the NCAA would 'continue to help foster welcoming environments on campuses for all student-athletes' but providing no further details. Baker further stated that eligibility rules for trans athletes should be 'clear, consistent, and uniform' across the country, and '[t]o that end, President Trump's order provides a clear, national standard.'
Baker, a Republican, served as the governor of Massachusetts from 2015 until 2023, and signed a transgender anti-discrimination law in 2016 — the same year that the NCAA temporarily barred North Carolina from hosting championship events as a result of the state's first trans bathroom ban. Nearly ten years later, both Baker and the NCAA have seemingly capitulated to the right-wing propaganda campaign against trans people in sports, following protests and legal actions from anti-trans mouthpieces like former college swimmer Riley Gaines. In December, Republicans derailed a congressional hearing on sports gambling to grill Baker about trans college athletes, of whom he claimed there were currently 10 across the entire U.S.
On Thursday evening, the Department of Education announced it would begin enforcing Trump's order as well. The agency said it has launched investigations into San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, alleging that the three institutions had violated Title IX civil rights law by allowing trans athletes to compete in leagues that correspond to their gender identity.
Policies banning trans women from women's sports leagues are not supported by current scientific evidence. In fact, some recent research has indicated trans women may face disadvantages compared to their cis peers in several notable metrics. Athletes including soccer legend Megan Rapinoe and basketball coach Dawn Staley have themselves opposed trans athletic bans, calling them 'cruel' and unnecessary. Nevertheless, Trump made attacking trans athletes a major issue on the campaign trail, even smearing Olympic gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif, a cis woman, as an abusive trans woman days before the November 2024 election.
Get the best of what's queer. Sign up for Them's weekly newsletter here.
Originally Appeared on them.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
4 minutes ago
- UPI
Trump announces trade deal with Vietnam; says deal with Japan unlikely
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a trade deal with Vietnam, under which Vietnamese imports to the United States will be subject to a 20% tariff while the United States will have tariff-free access to Vietnamse markets. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo July 2 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a trade deal with Vietnam a day after he said a similar deal with Japan is unlikely. Trump announced on his Truth Social social media platform that the deal will see Vietnam pay a 20% tariff on "any and all goods" imported to the United States, while the United States will be granted tariff-free trade with Vietnamese markets. "In other words, they will 'OPEN THEIR MARKET TO THE UNITED STATES,' meaning that we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO tariff," Trump wrote. "It is my opinion that the SUV or, as it is sometimes referred to, Large Engine Vehicle, which does so well in the United States will be a wonderful addition to the various product lines within Vietnam." Under the deal, Vietnam will also pay a 40% tariff on goods that are transshipped, meaning they originated in another country and were then sent to Japan before being ultimately shipped to the United States. Trump credited the deal as the result of a meeting with To Lam, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party. "Dealing with General Secretary To lam, which I did personally, was an absolute pleasure. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump wrote. The deal comes after Trump said Tuesday that trade negotiations with Japan aren't going well and called the country "spoiled." "We've dealt with Japan. I'm not sure if we're gonna make a deal, I doubt it, with Japan," he told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday. "They and others are so spoiled from having ripped us off for 30, 40 years that it's really hard for them to make a deal." The 90-day pause on tariffs ends July 9. Trade partners are scrambling to get trade deals with the U.S. Japan's tariff rate was 24% beginning April 2, when Trump launched his tariff assault. On social media Monday, Trump said Japan refuses to buy American rice, despite a shortage in the country. "They won't take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage. In other words, we'll just be sending them a letter, and we love having them as a Trading Partner for many years to come," he said in a post on Truth Social. Japan bought $298 million of rice from the United States last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This year, Japan has spent $114 million on American rice. He said it again on Tuesday, adding a claim about auto imports. "They need rice so badly, but they won't take rice," he said. "We didn't give them one car in 10 years." But Japan imported 16,707 units of American vehicles last year, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association.. Both sides vowed to continue talks. "We dealt with Japan. I'm not sure if we're going to make a deal. I doubt it with Japan - they're very tough. You have to understand, they're spoiled. I love Japan. I really like the new prime minister, too. Abe was one of my closest friends, as you know," he said on Tuesday. Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe died in 2022. Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki said, "Japan will continue to engage vigorously in sincere and honest discussions toward the realization of an agreement that will benefit both Japan and the United States." Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Ryosei Akazawa, his close aide and Japan's top tariff negotiator, stressed that the government will not rush a deal at the expense of the country's interests. They emphasized protecting the agricultural sector. Trump said if talks break down: "What I'm going to do is, I'll write them a letter to say, 'We thank you very much, and we know you can't do the kind of things that we need, and therefore you pay a 30%, 35% or whatever the number is that we determine,'" Trump said.
Newsweek
7 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Musk Suffers New Blow as Tesla Sales Drop for Second Quarter
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Elon Musk's Tesla reported another decline in deliveries in the second quarter, deepening the electric vehicle company's slump after a slower start to the year. Newsweek reached out to Tesla's press team via email for comment. Why It Matters Musk, once a vocal supporter and informal adviser to President Donald Trump, has stepped away from his government role leading the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and returned to focus on his companies, including Tesla. Musk and Trump's public split and fallout included character jabs as well as policy disagreements, including Trump's prized "big, beautiful" bill, which seeks to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent while cutting Medicaid funding and ending electric vehicle tax credits. Musk enjoys numerous lucrative contracts with the government across companies, including SpaceX, which Trump has threatened to revoke. The drop in sales and deliveries may signal an extended consumer backlash against the Tesla brand. Protests and vandalism targeting Tesla, which began in response to Musk's time in the Trump administration, have continued since his departure. What To Know On Wednesday, Tesla reported its second-quarter production and delivery figures, producing 410,244 vehicles, primarily Model 3 and Model Y cars, and delivering 384,122. Deliveries are considered a proxy for sales. The figures are about 14 percent lower than in the second quarter of 2024, when Tesla produced 410,831 vehicles and delivered 443,956. The second-quarter findings are also lower than those of the first quarter of 2025, which reported 362,615 vehicles produced and 336,681 deliveries, representing a decline of approximately 13 percent from the first quarter of 2024. The first-quarter slump coincided with Musk's formal affiliation with the president and his appointment to the DOGE position. A Tesla car recharges at a Tesla charging station in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 24, 2017. A Tesla car recharges at a Tesla charging station in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 24, 2017. AP Photo/Chuck Burton This quarter, production and deliveries increased from the first quarter but remained below the levels of a year earlier. The numbers represent a longer three-year decline in sales. In Europe, Tesla sales have dropped notably, with the company selling 8,729 vehicles in the European Union last month, a 40.5 percent decrease from the 14,682 sold in May 2024, according to data released on Wednesday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Musk has also been pursuing a political agenda in Europe, with recent interventions in the German election and British politics. The electric vehicle market has become increasingly saturated since Tesla's inception, with numerous other manufacturers now producing hybrid electric cars, including BYD, BMW, Volkswagen, and others. In addition to its fleet, Tesla is also focusing on its robotaxi, self-driving service. What People Are Saying Tesla CEO Elon Musk, during a conference call in April, said he was "extremely optimistic about the future of the company," which will be "fundamentally based on large-scale autonomous cars and large-scale—being large volume—vast numbers of autonomous humanoid robots." Musk continued: "The value of a company that makes truly useful autonomous humanoid robots and autonomous useful vehicles at scale, at low cost—which is what Tesla is going to do—is staggering. I continue to believe that Tesla, with excellent execution, will be the most valuable company in the world by far." President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday: "We might have to put DOGE on Elon," adding that "DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon." What Happens Next Tesla remains one of the largest suppliers of electric vehicles in the world, but competitors have taken note of the disappointing numbers and are likely to move to secure a greater market share. On Tuesday, Trump noted that he will "have to take a look" into deporting Musk, who was born in South Africa and became a naturalized United States citizen more than two decades ago.
The Hill
7 minutes ago
- The Hill
House Democrats demand closure of ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
House Democrats are calling for the closure of Florida's new migrant detention facility on a remote site nestled in the Everglades dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' citing it as an example of what they argue is the Trump administration's 'shameful, dehumanizing approach to immigration.' Democratic Reps. Janelle Bynum (Ore.) and Maxwell Frost (Fla.) led a group of 24 Democrats in sending a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons on Wednesday. The letter includes signatures from Reps. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Eric Swalwell (Calif.), among others. The Democratic lawmakers panned the facility as a 'cruel and inhumane stunt.' The administration used money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program to build the facility, which is projected to cost about $450 million a year. 'This kind of cruel rhetoric and deliberate endangerment further exemplifies the administration's shameful, dehumanizing approach to immigration – an approach rooted in anti-immigrant hostility that is morally indefensible and in clear violation of fundamental human rights,' the members wrote in the letter. They said migrants detained there while awaiting deportation will be kept in tents 'with inadequate sanitation facilities' facing conditions including 'exposure to deadly pathogens, constant threats from unpredictable flooding and extreme weather events, and daily temperatures averaging 90 degrees, with a heat index often over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.' 'Erecting tents in the blazing Everglades sun, during hurricane season no less, and call it immigration enforcement is nothing short of disgusting and cruel. Donald Trump and his Administration don't care if migrant men, women, and children live or die – they only care about cruelty and spectacle,' Frost said in a statement. The group is demanding clarity on the funding and conditions at the facility and 'a commitment to humane treatment for all detainees at all detention facilities.' Trump toured the site Tuesday to mark its opening, touting the facility alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The facility was built through a partnership with state and federal resources to bolster Trump's immigration crackdown and features soft-sided units outfitted with chain-link cells that have been built to house hundreds of detainees. 'It's known as 'Alligator Alcatraz,' which is very appropriate, because I looked outside and it's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon,' Trump said while at the facility. 'We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland and the only way out is, really, deportation.'
