The board of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reportedly didn’t consult with its own medical consultants before voting to ban of all transgender women from women’s sports on Thursday. The NCAA’s subsequent announcement marked its advance compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening to persecute any colleges that allow trans female athletes on women’s teams.
The NCAA’s previous policy allowed trans athletes to compete based on the criteria used by the governing bodies of individual sports. However, on Thursday, NCAA President Charlie Baker (who is also the former Republican governor of Massachusetts) said, “President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard … [that] would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions.”
Related
Trump’s Department of Education launches investigation into transgender athletes
It’s the second example in as many weeks of the president weaponizing the Department of Education for his anti-trans agenda.
Baker was referring to the fact that over a dozen states have laws banning trans female athletes from college and university sports teams, and eligibility criteria differs between sports. The NCAA’s new trans ban is effective immediately, though its policy still allows trans male athletes to compete if their sports’ governing bodies allow it.
Stay connected to your community
Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
In a letter published Thursday and addressed to NCAA President Baker, Dr. Jack Turban announced his resignation from the NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. Turban told The Hill that neither he nor other committee members were given advance notice of the board’s vote to ban trans women before publicly announcing it.
In an open letter to Baker, Turban wrote, “Unfortunately, your recent decision to issue a blanket ban on trans female participation in women’s sports does not align with [medical] or scientific consensus. I cannot in good conscience participate in this kind of politicization of science and medicine at the expense of some of our most vulnerable student-athletes.”
— Jack Turban MD (@turban.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 3:31 PM
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump’s order would begin “a very public pressure campaign” on the NCAA and the U.S. Olympics Committee to ban trans athletes; but neither is required to follow executive orders because neither receives federal funding and executive orders are not self-executing.
Trump’s order also threatened to individually prosecute schools that allow trans women on women’s teams or in women’s restrooms and lockerroom facilities, so the NCAA’s policy change may signify an attempt to forestall any prosecution that Trump could have instigated against schools hosting trans-inclusive teams and games.
The NCAA covers 1,100 colleges and universities with over 530,000 student-athletes, Baker said, though he estimated that only 10 athletes in the entire association identify as trans, a number accounting for less than 0.002% of NCAA athletes nationwide.
In a social media post praising the NCAA’s decision, Trump wrote, “Men should have NEVER been allowed to compete against women in the first place, but I am proud to be the President to SAVE Women’s Sports. We expect the Olympics Committee to also use Common Sense, and implement this policy, which is very popular among the American People, and the entire World!”
In response to Trump’s trans sports ban, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, Executive Director of Advocates for Trans Equality, wrote, “This executive order isn’t about protecting women and girls in sports — it does nothing to address the real issues facing women and girls in athletics, such as unequal access to funding and facilities, abuse by coaches, physicians, and other trusted adults, and the unconscionable gender pay gap in professional sports. This executive order targeting transgender children is part of Trump’s campaign to erase transgender people from public life.”
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.