CeCe Telfer won an NCAA title as a transgender woman in 2019, and recently said on CNN that the “anti-trans rhetoric has become louder, more in my face” ever since President Donald Trump was sworn in last month.
Earlier this month, the president signed an executive order that would prohibit transgender girls and women from competing against biological females in athletics. The Department of Education has also called for prior titles won by trans women to be stripped.
“Prior to this set-in-stone administration, I woke up every day and I faced adversaries when I leave my house. Now, I wake up every day and I have to make sure that I make it home alive,” Telfer said, adding that “each of my identities” as a Black trans woman is a “target.”
“It’s really sad to see people go out of their way to make it known you don’t belong here. But every day, I wake up, I decide to go out and live my life, (it) proves that I do belong here. And just existing is resilience.
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CeCe Telfer of Franklin Pierce wins the 400 meter hurdles during the Division II Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at Javelina Stadium on May 25, 2019 in Kingsville, Texas.(Rudy Gonzalez/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
“It’s sad to see that one of the most powerful countries in the world would ostracize and de-humanize a group of people, a small group of athletes, too, but also as transgender women overall. I’ve done nothing wrong but try to be a good, contributing member of society,” Telfer added. “I pay my taxes. I go to school. I try to leave the world better than when I came into it. And if the president doesn’t see us, then we’ll make ourselves be seen and known with goodness and love, because that’s all we have to offer.”
As the Trump administration continues to fight to keep biological males out of women’s sports, Telfer is “willing to sit down” with “Trump himself” about his order and transgenderism in sports.
“I’m willing to sit down with the IOC, the USATF, the NCAA, with any of my international federations, even the Trump administration, Trump himself, if he wants to sit down with me and talk and have a human conversation and see me. I feel as though social media is very loud, and just to have a human sit across from you and have a conversation with them, it’s very different. So I’m willing to have a conversation if they’re willing to give me that chance,” Telfer said.
Cece Telfer attends Corey O’Brien’s “Everyone Loves Corey” at The Comedy Chateau on November 02, 2023 in North Hollywood, California.(Victoria Sirakova/Getty Images for Corey O’Brien)
MASSACHUSETTS REP BLASTS REPUBLICANS FOR ‘WEAPONIZING’ TRANSGENDER ATHLETES: ‘POLITICS AT ITS WORST’
“I need some explanation as to why you want to completely eradicate us from society when we’ve done nothing wrong. Think about the humanity and think about the younger kids like me who have doctors confirming their gender, have people behind them. Even if he wants to have a team go around with me and see my day-to-day life and what I go through as a transgender female athlete, all for it.”
Telfer added that despite the perceived increase in anti-trans rhetoric, and calls for titles won by trans athletes to be revoked, the title Telfer won is even more vindicated, “because it makes me feel like not only was history made then, but it’ll stay in the books and be reminded that policies and orders are not forever, but our resilience is.”
“If somebody’s truly a part of the Department of Education, they would be smart and educated enough to know that something like that, that’s not how history works, and that’s not how the direction of progressiveness works. You can’t take back history,” Telfer said, adding the NCAA was “pressured” to change their rules and follow suit with Trump’s order.
“They were on the right side of history — I don’t know what happened,” Telfer added.
US President Donald Trump signs the No Men in Women’s Sports Executive Order into law in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 5, 2025.(ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
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Telfer was ruled ineligible to compete at the U.S. Olympic trials in 2021, two years after taking home the 2019 Division II Women’s 400m hurdles title.
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The United States Department of Education is calling on the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) to strip the records and awards “misappropriated” by transgender athletes competing in girls and women’s sports less than a week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order effectively banning them from competition.
The statement follows a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) to the NCAA and the NFHS on Tuesday urging the organization to “restore to female athletes the records, titles, awards, and recognitions misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.”
NCAA president Charlie Baker give a television interview during the game between the UCLA Bruins and the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 25, 2023 in Greenville, South Carolina.(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The statement went on to call on the organizations to strip any accolades from those athletes that “unfairly competed against girls and women in athletics,” adding that doing so would align the groups with the new policy.
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Trump signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order on Wednesday, which will require entities that receive federal funding to align with Title IX, which the Trump administration changed last week to recognize protections on the basis of biological sex — undoing former President Joe Biden’s 2024 rewrite.
Surrounded by female athletes, Trump declared at the signing ceremony that “the war on women’s sports is over.”
In response to the executive order, NCAA President Charlie Baker later released a statement stating that the Board of Governors would review the executive order and take steps to align the organization’s policy in the coming days.
A general view of NCAA pool flags.(Scott Taetsch/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS PROTEST, THREATEN LAWSUITS OVER STATE’S REFUSAL TO FOLLOW TRUMP’S TRANS ATHLETES BAN
“We strongly believe that clear, consistent and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard,” the statement read.
“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. The Association will continue to help foster welcoming environments on campuses for all student-athletes. We stand ready to assist schools as they look for ways to support any student-athletes affected by changes in the policy.”
The following day the NCAA officially updated its gender eligibility policy that “limits competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.”
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines react after finishing tied for 5th in the 200 Freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18th, 2022 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta Georgia.(Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Candice Jackson, Deputy General Counsel, said in a statement Tuesday that the NCAA’s decision to change its policy was only the first step.
“The next necessary step is to restore athletic records to women who have for years been devalued, ignored, and forced to watch men steal their accolades. The Trump Education Department will do everything in our power to right this wrong and champion the hard-earned accomplishments of past, current, and future female collegiate athletes.”
The executive order has been met with pushback.
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow the state’s law that allows athletes to participate as whichever gender they identify as, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital last week.
The Education department’s latest plea is also expected to be met with similar rebuffs.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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Dr. Jack Turban, the director of the gender psychiatry program at the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in the mental health of transgender youth, resigned from an NCAA committee on Friday after the organization complied with President Donald Trump’s executive order.
Trump signed an executive order to protect women’s sports. The order banned biological males from competing in women’s and girls’ sports. It gave the federal government authority to penalize federally funded entities that “deprive women and girls of faith athletic opportunities.”
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President Donald Trump signs an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s or girls’ sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
In response, the NCAA changed its trans-inclusion policy to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports altogether. Turban wrote a letter to NCAA president Charlie Baker announcing his resignation from the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS).
“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,” Turban’s letter read. “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.
“I am immensely grateful for my time with CSMAS and have been impressed by the academic and medical rigor the committee brings to ensuring competitive fairness and the safety of student athletes. I am particularly thankful to have had the opportunity to work with the other physician members of the committee. Their compassion and scientific expertise have been unparalleled.
TRUMP TOUTS EXECUTIVE ORDER KEEPING BIOLOGICAL MALES FROM WOMEN’S SPORTS
President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“However, it is clear that your decision was based on politics and not science, as the CSMAS membership was not consulted prior to the decision.”
The NCAA announced the change a day after Trump signed the executive order.
“The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes,” Baker said in a statement. “We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.
“The updated policy combined with these resources follows through on the NCAA’s constitutional commitment to deliver intercollegiate athletics competition and to protect, support and enhance the mental and physical health of student-athletes,” Baker said. “This national standard brings much needed clarity as we modernize college sports for today’s student-athletes.”
Trump’s executive order banned biological males from competing in women’s and girls’ sports.(Scott Taetsch/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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Turban added in an Instagram post, “I am sad to see the #NCAA politicize science and medicine at the expense of some of our most vulnerable student athletes.”
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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
Gov. Youngkin praises Trump for ‘saving women’s sports’
Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., celebrates President Donald Trump’s executive order barring transgender athletes from women’s sports and shares his take on the administration eyeing the elimination of the Department of Education on ‘The Will Cain Show.’
President Donald Trump celebrated the NCAA’s announcement of a new policy Thursday that prevents transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports after he signed an executive order to address the issue a day earlier.
Trump proclaimed himself “the president to save women’s sports” in a celebratory Truth Social post. He also suggested the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be the next major sports institution to follow his order.
“Due to my Executive Order, which I proudly signed yesterday, the NCAA has officially changed their policy of allowing men in Women’s Sports – IT IS NOW BANNED! This is a great day for women and girls across our Country,” 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!”
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The NCAA’s previous policy, which had been in place in 2010, allowed biological males to compete in women’s sports after undergoing at least one year of testosterone suppression treatment. The new policy states, “A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.”
HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE
Prior to Trump signing the order Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said part of the motivation behind Trump’s executive order would be to create a “pressure campaign” for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and NCAA to follow and prevent transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
During Trump’s ceremony at the White House to sign the executive order, he announced that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will prohibit any transgender athletes attempting to compete as women from entering the country for the Olympics in 2028.
Trump said he will instruct Noem “to deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes try and get into the Games.”
There was controversy surrounding gender eligibility at the Paris Olympics in July and August.
Boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan won gold medals in women’s boxing. Both athletes had previously been disqualified from international competitions for failing gender eligibility tests. However, the IOC and current President Thomas Bach voiced support for both athletes. The IOC also insisted that both athletes were biologically female.
Before that, Laurel Hubbard, a transgender woman, competed in weightlifting for the New Zealand team, and Canadian soccer player Quinn came out as nonbinary and transgender in 2020.
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With Bach preparing to leave office later this year, the IOC’s next president could help carry out Trump’s vision on the issue more cooperatively.
Former British Olympic champion Sebastian Coe is a candidate to be the next IOC president and has suggested he will take action to prevent transgender inclusion in women’s events.
Coe is the head of World Athletics, the governing body for international track and field competition. In 2023, the governing body tightened its regulations on transgender athletes to exclude transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in the female category. That regulation also lowered the maximum testosterone level for eligible female competitors.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s or girls sporting events in the East Room of the White House Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Coe said if he becomes IOC president, the new Olympic policy on transgender inclusion will “probably” reflect the one he has established in World Athletics. Coe has also said the controversy surrounding Khelif and Yu-ting made him feel “uncomfortable.”
The United Nations released study findings saying nearly 900 biological females have fallen short of winning medals because they lost to transgender athletes.
The study, “Violence against women and girls in sports,” said more than 600 athletes did not medal in more than 400 competitions in 29 different sports, totaling over 890 medals, according to information obtained up to March 30.
“The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males,” the report said.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
The NCAA has officially changed its gender eligibility policies to ban all biological males from women’s sports one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to address the issue.
The governing body of college sports announced on Thursday afternoon its new participation policy for transgender student-athletes.
“A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team,” the new policy reads.
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The previous policy, which had been in place in 2010, allowed biological males to compete in the women’s category after undergoing at least one year of testosterone suppression treatment.
Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D..C., in front of female athletes on National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Wednesday.
NCAA President Charlie Baker responded to the executive order in a statement later on Wednesday, saying it provided a “clear, national standard,” and that the NCAA Board of Governors would review it and take steps to align the organization’s policy in the coming days.
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“The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes,” the statement said. “We strongly believe that clear, consistent and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.
“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. The Association will continue to help foster welcoming environments on campuses for all student-athletes. We stand ready to assist schools as they look for ways to support any student-athletes affected by changes in the policy.”
Baker previously addressed concerns over the issue of female athletes having to share teams and locker rooms with trans athletes during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December. There, Baker insisted that female athletes have the option to find other accommodations if they’re uncomfortable sharing with transgenders and that the NCAA’s policies that allow trans athletes to compete against women are based on federal standards.
HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE
The previous policy has resulted in multiple lawsuits against the NCAA and its member schools. Former NCAA swimmer and current conservative activist Riley Gaines is currently leading a lawsuit over her experience of having to compete with and share a locker room with trans swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 national championships. She is joined by several other women athletes who have also been affected by trans inclusion.
Another lawsuit was filed Tuesday evening, when three of Thomas’ former UPenn teammates came forward with their own experiences of having to share a team and locker room with Thomas and were allegedly gaslit by their university administrators and fed pro-trans ideology.
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A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don’t think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sports. Of the 2,128 people polled, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports.
Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
The NCAA responded to President Donald Trump’s executive order to keep biological men out of women’s sports Wednesday night.
Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order in the East Room of the White House in front of female athletes on National Girls & Women in Sports Day.
NCAA President Charlie Baker responded to the executive order in a statement, saying it provided a “clear, national standard.”
Baker said the NCAA Board of Governors would review it and take steps to align the organization’s policy in the coming days.
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President Donald Trump waves after signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s and girls sports in the East Room of the White House Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes,” the statement said. “We strongly believe that clear, consistent and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.
“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. The Association will continue to help foster welcoming environments on campuses for all student-athletes. We stand ready to assist schools as they look for ways to support any student-athletes affected by changes in the policy.”
Trump was joined by Independent Women ambassadors Riley Gaines, Payton McNabb, Paula Scanlan, Sia Liilii, Lauren Miller, Kim Russell, Kaitlynn Wheeler, Linnea Saltz and Lily Mullens.
NCAA President Charlie Baker speaks during a press conference celebrating the 25-year anniversary of the NCAA moving its national office to Indianapolis Aug. 13, 2024, at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.(Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar/USA Today Network)
“This doesn’t have to be long. It’s all about common sense,” Trump said before signing the order, adding that “women’s sports will be only for women. The war on women’s sports is over.”
RILEY GAINES: THE ALL-OUT WAR ON FEMALE ATHLETES ENDS NOW, THANKS TO PRESIDENT TRUMP
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing before Trump signed the executive order that it “upholds the promise of Title IX.”
Leavitt said Trump expected the NCAA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to comply.
“He does expect the Olympic committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women’s sports,” she said. “I think the president, with the signing of his pen, starts a very public pressure campaign on these organizations to do the right thing for women and for girls.
“Again, this is an incredibly popular position. There have been many notable female athletes who have had the courage to speak out against some very powerful institutions in this country. They deserve to have a voice and a say. The president is bringing their voice to the highest level of the White House. He expects these organizations to comply with this federal executive order he will be signing today.”
Felicia Martin, vice president of the NCAA’s Eligibility Center, spoke at a congressional briefing in Washington Wednesday to celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day and suggested the NCAA Board of Governors is already discussing potential policy changes once Trump’s executive order goes into effect.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s and girls sporting events in the East Room of the White House Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“We know that this is an issue and a national conversation happening around participation,” she said. “The Board of Governors is right now having conversations about what potential next steps might be, but this is absolutely one of those issues that is ongoing.
“But without a national standard that can be applied across the board, all of us are making decisions based on what we think is the best for student-athletes and opportunities.”
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Martin added that she expects more clarity on a national standard later in the day from Trump. She also said the Board of Governors would make its decisions on any policy changes based on the specific details of the executive order.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
With President Donald Trump set to sign an executive order banning trans athletes from girls’ and women’s sports on Wednesday, the NCAA is already bracing for a potential change to its current rules that allow trans athletes to compete with women.
Vice president of the NCAA’s Eligibility Center, Felicia Martin, spoke at a congressional briefing in Washington on Wednesday to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day and suggested that the NCAA Board of Governors is already discussing potential policy changes after Trump’s executive order goes into effect.
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“We know that this is an issue and a national conversation happening around participation,” she said. “The Board of Governors is right now having conversations about what potential next steps night be, but this is absolutely one of those issues that is ongoing, but without a national standard that can be applied across the board, all of us are making decisions based on what we think is the best for student athletes and opportunities.”
Martin added that she expects more clarity on a national standard later in the day from Trump. She also said that the Board of Governors would make its decisions on any policy changes based on the specific details of the executive order.
In addition to Trump’s executive order, the NCAA may get even more clarity on an incoming federal standard if the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act passes through Congress. The bill, which would ban federal funding for any institution that allows trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, has already made it through the House of Representatives.
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The NCAA has had a policy in place to allow trans athletes to compete against women dating back to 2010. The 2010 NCAA Policy on Transgender Student-Athlete Participation states that biologically male athletes are allowed to compete in the women’s category after undergoing at least one year of testosterone suppression treatment.
This policy has resulted in multiple lawsuits against the NCAA and its member schools. Former NCAA swimmer and current conservative activist Riley Gaines is currently leading a lawsuit over her experience of having to compete with and share a locker room with trans swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 national championships. She is joined by several other women athletes who have also been affected by trans inclusion.
Another lawsuit was filed Tuesday evening, when three of Thomas’ former UPenn teammates came forward with their own experiences of having to share a team and locker room with Thomas and were allegedly gaslit by their university administrators and fed pro-trans ideology.
NCAA President Charlie Baker addressed concerns over the issue of female athletes having to share teams and locker rooms with trans athletes during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December. There, Baker insisted that female athletes have the option to find other accommodations if they’re uncomfortable sharing with transgenders.
“Everybody else should have an opportunity to use other facilities if they wish to do so,” Baker said.
Baker also says that the NCAA’s policies that allow trans athletes to compete against women are based on federal standards.
HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE
Baker has also attempted to downplay the scale of the issue. Baker addressed the issue again during an interview on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” days after the hearing. When McAfee asked Baker how the parents of daughters should feel about trans athletes in women’s sports and the NCAA’s record on it, Baker said, “There are 510,000 college athletes playing in the NCAA, there are less than 10 transgender athletes, so it’s a small community to begin with.”
However, despite that statistic, the issue has become a national debate over the last year, with several other instances of it happening at the youth and high school level, prompting national outrage.
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A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don’t think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sports. Of the 2,128 people polled, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports.
Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
The issue is even believed to have affected the outcome of the 2024 election.
Shortly after November’s election, a national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of “Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls’ and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls’ and women’s bathrooms” as important to them.
And 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was “very important.”
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
President Donald Trump expects the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the NCAA to comply with his executive order barring biological men from women’s sports, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing on Wednesday.
Trump will sign the No Men in Women’s Sports executive order later in the day. Leavitt was asked in the briefing how the order will affect the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will take place in Los Angeles.
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President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“He does expect the Olympic committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women’s sports,” Leavitt said. “I think the president, with the signing of his pen, starts a very public pressure campaign on these organizations to do the right thing for women and for girls.
“Again, this is an incredibly popular position. There have been many notable female athletes who have had the courage to speak out against some very powerful institutions in this country. They deserve to have a voice and a say. The president is bringing their voice to the highest level of the White House. He expects these organizations to comply with this federal executive order he will be signing today.”
The U.S. Olympic team has not featured a transgender woman. It has featured an athlete who was transgender nonbinary. Laurel Hubbard, a transgender woman, competed in weightlifting for the New Zealand team. Canadian soccer player Quinn came out as nonbinary and transgender in 2020.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addresses reporters, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The 2024 Paris Olympics included a gender controversy concerning two boxers who competed in the women’s division. The International Olympic Committee made clear each boxer was eligible to compete in female weight classes.
Trump made fairness in women’s sports a major campaign issue on his way to winning the presidential election over former Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
At the beginning of January, a federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s attempt to redefine sex in Title IX as “gender identity.” Then, Trump’s Department of Education told K-12 schools and higher learning institutions that Title IX protections would be recognized on the basis of biological sex.
Trump made clear in December he was going to end the “transgender lunacy.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the IOC, USOPC and the NCAA for comment on Trump’s executive order.
NCAA president Charlie Baker spoke to Congress about trans inclusion in collegiate sports in December.
A view of the Olympic rings in Paris.(AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)
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“We’re a national governing body and we follow federal law,” he said at the time. “Clarity on this issue at the federal level would be very helpful.”
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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
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EXCLUSIVE: Former University of Pennsylvania women’s swimmers Grace Estabrook, Margot Kaczorowski and Ellen Holmquist have filed a lawsuit against the university, Harvard University, the NCAA and the Ivy League Council of Presidents over their experience sharing a team with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. The lawsuit does not name Thomas as a defendant.
According to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Estabrok, Kaczorowski and Holmquist argue that Thomas’ eligibility to compete as a woman for UPenn violated their Title IX rights. It argues the NCAA’s 2010, which allows biological males to compete in the women’s category based on their preferred gender identity, is “discriminatory.”
The women claim that by allowing Thomas to compete, the institutions “injured them and violated federal law.”
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The lawsuit also detailed the personal experiences each of the women faced having to share a team and locker room with Thomas. Each of the plaintiffs claims the experience left them “repeatedly emotionally traumatized.”
The plaintiffs allege that the university administrators pushed pro-trans ideology onto them throughout the process of accepting Thomas on the team and in their locker room. The former swimmers say that they were led to feel their concerns over being teammates with Thomas was rooted in a “psychological problem.”
“The UPenn administrators told the women that if anyone was struggling with accepting Thomas’s participation on the UPenn Women’s team, they should seek counseling and support from CAPS and the LBGTQ center,” the lawsuit alleges.
“The administrators also invited the women to a talk titled, ‘Trans 101.’ Thus, the women were led to understand that UPenn’s position was that if a woman on the team had any problem with a trans-identifying male being on her team that woman had a psychological problem and needed counseling.”
Lia Thomas of the Pennsylvania Quakers swims in the 500 yard freestyle event during a tri-meet against the Yale Bulldogs and the Dartmouth Big Green at Sheerr Pool on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania on January 8, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.(Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
The plaintiffs also allege that the administrators warned them against speaking out against the situation publicly.
“The UPenn administrators went on to tell the women that if the women spoke publicly about their concerns about Thomas’ participation on the Women’s Team, the reputation of those complaining about Thomas being on the team would be tainted with transphobia for the rest of their lives and they would probably never be able to get a job,’” the lawsuit alleges.
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Thomas, a biological male, previously competed for the UPenn men’s swimming team from 2017-20 under the name Will Thomas. According to the lawsuit, Thomas was introduced by women’s swimming head coach Mike Schnur to the women’s swimmers during a team meeting in Fall 2019 as their incoming teammate.
The lawsuit alleges that coaches and UPenn administrators told the women’s swimmers not to talk about Thomas’ situation. Schnur allegedly told the women’s swimmers that Thomas wouldn’t be sharing a locker room with them when they asked after the initial introduction.
But that allegedly changed later.
Thomas officially began to practice and compete with the women’s swimmers in Fall 2021.
And that was when the female swimmers say they discovered that Schnur’s alleged claim Thomas wouldn’t share a locker room was not true.
“When UPenn’s women’s swimmers returned to school in the fall of 2021 they were shocked to discover that Thomas was being allowed to use the women’s locker room at UPenn and would be allowed to use the women’s locker room at swim meets,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Margot [Kaczorowski] only learned that Thomas had been authorized by UPenn to use the women’s locker room when [Kaczorowski] walked in the women’s locker room to find Thomas in front of her changing his clothing.”
Per the suit, Kaczorowski confronted Schnur in tears about her shock of discovering Thomas would now share a locker room with her. She alleges the coach responded by saying “I know it’s wrong but there’s nothing I can do.”
“Coach Schnur told the Plaintiffs he would be fired by UPenn if he did not allow Thomas to use the women’s locker room and compete on the women’s swim team,” the lawsuit alleges.
In December 2021, another team meeting was held to discuss Thomas’ presence on the team and the media attention it garnered, per the court documents. The female swimmers allege they were told that Thomas would continue to be on their team and that “Lia swimming is a non-negotiable.”
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The three female swimmers allege that they were made to believe they would be removed from the team if they tried to protest Thomas’ participation ahead of the 2022 Ivy League championships.
“UPenn swim team members were told by Coach Schnur and UPenn administrators that UPenn administrators coordinated closely with the NCAA and the Ivy League to ensure that Thomas would be eligible for the 2021-2022 women’s swimming season,” the suit alleged.
“These statements about close coordination between UPenn, the Ivy League and the NCAA regarding Thomas’ eligibility led the UPenn Women’s Team members to understand the resisting or protesting the participation of Thomas on the team or his presence in the locker room would be futile and could result in the women being removed from the team or from UPenn.”
At the 2022 Ivy League Swimming Championships, Thomas came in first in the 500-, 200- and 100-yard freestyle races, setting pool and Ivy League records, and was ultimately the highest-scoring swimmer at the entire meet. That year’s competition was hosted at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas poses with her teammates Hannah Kannan, Camryn Carter, and Margot Kaczorowski after winning the 400 yard freestyle relay during the 2022 Ivy League Womens Swimming and Diving Championships at Blodgett Pool on February 19, 2022 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)
The lawsuit alleges that Harvard made no accommodations for any of the female athletes who did not want to share a locker room or restroom with Thomas.
“Harvard did not provide a unisex bathroom or separate bathroom for Thomas to use or for any other women to use who did not want to use the Women’s Locker room while Thomas was using it,” the suit alleges.
After Thomas’ record-breaking performance in Cambridge that February, the athlete went on to compete at that year’s NCAA championships. There, an infamous tie with former University of Kentucky Riley Gaines resulted in Thomas hoisting the trophy for photo-ops over the biologically female Gaines.
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Gaines has since filed her own lawsuit against the NCAA alongside several other female athletes who have been affected by the association’s gender identity policies.
Other female competitors from that event who joined Gaines’ lawsuit have spoken out about their experience with Thomas as well.
Former North Carolina State women’s swimmer Kylee Alons, a 31-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion, spoke about the experience competing against and sharing a locker room with Thomas, during a Georgia senate committee hearing on Jan. 30.
“We all were just guinea pigs for a giant social experiment formed by the NCAA regarding how much abuse and blatant disregard women would be forced to take in silence,” Alons said. “I go to the locker room that day only to see Thomas and realize there is no escape from this nightmare, no matter where I go. I had no idea he was going to be allowed in the women’s locker room as we did not consent to have a man in our locker room.”
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler joined Lyons in recounting the experience of sharing a locker room with Thomas at the Jan. 30 hearing.
“Young women, teenage girls were forced to undress next to a fully intact biological male who exposed himself to us, while we were simultaneously fully exposed,” Wheeler said. “We were never asked. We were never given a choice or another option. We were just expected to be OK with it, to shove down our discomfort, our embarrassment, our fear, because standing up for ourselves would mean being labeled as intolerant or hateful or bigoted.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to UPenn, Harvard, The Ivy League and the NCAA for comment, but has not received a response at the time of publication.
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NCAA President Charlie Baker addressed concerns over the issue of female athletes having to share teams and locker rooms with trans athletes during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December.
There, Baker insisted that female athletes have the option to find other accommodations if they’re uncomfortable sharing with transgenders.
“Everybody else should have an opportunity to use other facilities if they wish to do so,” Baker said.
Baker also says that the NCAA’s policies that allow trans athletes to compete against women is based on federal standards.
Those federal standards may change in the coming days.
President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order to ban trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act Jan. 14, which would cut federal funding for any public educational institution that allows transgender athletes to compete against girls and women in sports.
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Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) transgender runner Sadie Schreiner boasted about a victory at a women’s track and field meet over the weekend.
Schreiner won the 200-meter event with a time of 25.17 seconds. SUNY Brockport’s Lexi Rodriguez finished in second place with a time of 26.92 seconds. Fisher College’s Abigail Dorunda (27.00), Makenna Manson (27.63) and Allison Nickson (27.82) rounded out the top 5.
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Sadie Schreiner, center, races to qualify in the 400m race at the 2024 NCAA DIII outdoor track and field championships at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium on May 24, 2024 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.(Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Not the race I was looking for at all this week, my spikes nearly fell off on the turn and with a poor start my time wasn’t nearly what I wanted,” the RIT runner wrote in an Instagram post.
“The good news is that the season just started, and I’m going to leave everything on the track at nationals,” Schreiner added with a transgender pride flag emoji.
Schreiner is one of a few NCAA transgender female athletes who compete against biological women despite the organization’s attempt to clamp down on the issue.
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Schreiner is an advocate for trans-inclusion in women’s sports and complained last month about the lack of support from schools in the NCAA transfer portal.
“Trying to transfer into D1 has made it abundantly clear that people are too afraid to support me,” Schreiner wrote on Instagram. “I aimed to transfer in order to not only improve my athletic ability in a more competitive environment, but to help with the funds I needed to complete my degree.
Sadie Schreiner puts a transgender flag in her hair before heading to the awards stand after finishing 3rd in the finals of the 200m race at the 2024 NCAA DIII outdoor track and field championships at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium on May 25, 2024 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.(Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“It will now likely be impossible to do so, but whether (it’s) in D3 or somewhere else I will be competing this year.”
Schreiner is still at RIT and still apparently winning.
Last season, Schreiner earned All-American honors in outdoor track. The New Jersey native finished in third place in the 200-meter and eighth in the 400-meter races at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
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Schreiner won the 200-meter race at the Atlantic Region Indoor Championships and finished in ninth in the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships.
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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
