Cole Welsh, Editor

During his first few weeks in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to bar biological males from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

The order, labeled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” directs federal agencies to ensure entities receiving federal funding comply with the White House’s view of Title IX, which interprets sex as the gender someone was assigned at birth.

Declaring that the war on women’s sports is over, Trump signed the executive order during a ceremony in the East Room that included lawmakers and female athletes who have come out in support of a ban, including collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines.

Coinciding with National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the issuance of the order offers some clarity in regard to transgender athletes. 

While an executive order cannot override federal laws and statutes, such a directive can still manage the operations of the federal government.

Most prominently, it authorizes the Education Department to discipline schools that allow biological males to compete in female sports, pointing to noncompliance with Title IX.

Title IX, which was passed as part of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972, protects students from sex-based discrimination in educational programs or other activities that receive federal funding.

Following the executive order’s signing, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) updated its policy, barring student-athletes assigned male at birth from competing for an NCAA women’s team.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), which governs high school athletics in Pennsylvania, similarly ended a policy that permitted transgender athletes, replacing references to gender with sex.

However, some states and school districts have been less compliant.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into Maine’s Department of Education based on allegations that Maine is violating federal antidiscrimination law by allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports.

Simultaneously, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a letter to officials in California, Maine and Minnesota warning them to comply with federal discrimination laws.

Ignoring Trump’s executive order, the Philadelphia School District will also still allow transgender athletes to play in sports matching their gender identity.

While such opposition may be seen as an outright act of political defiance, it is no secret that elected officials have interpreted Title IX in different ways.

In Trump’s interpretation, biological females must be protected from discrimination, which includes being forced to compete against biological males.

According to Maine and other liberal states, however, transgender athletes must be protected from discrimination, meaning that they can compete against whichever sex they prefer.

While the issue is litigated in the courts, it remains to be seen what recourse, if any, Trump has to punish states that fail to comply.

When Governor Janet Mills of Maine, a Democrat, promised to continue allowing transgender athletes to compete in sports regardless of their biological sex, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding.

While Title IX’s language may be unclear for some, it is clear that many states and school districts rely on federal funds. This means that federal funding for noncompliance, if deemed lawful, may prove to be an effective strategy.

Without federal funding, many public schools may be forced to make budget cuts or eliminate entire programs altogether.

As a result, states may ultimately have to decide between allowing biological males in female sports and risking federal funding or complying with the federal government.