Happy New Year 2025

Tag: trans

Trans athlete Sadie Schreiner not competing for RIT women’s track team after Trump’s executive order

Transgender track and field runner Sadie Schreiner is not competing in future events for Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) women’s track and field team amid the NCAA changing its gender eligibility policy.

An RIT spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the program is complying with the NCAA’s new policy that reflects President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that bans trans athletes from women’s sports.

“We continue to follow the NCAA participation policy for transgender student-athletes following the Trump administration’s executive order. Sadie is not participating in the next meet,” the spokesperson said.

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Sadie Schreiner puts a transgender flag in her hair before heading to the awards stand at the NCAA DIII outdoor track and field championships on May 25, 2024, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The NCAA officially changed its gender eligibility policies to ban all biological males from women’s sports on Feb. 6, one day after Trump signed the order.

“A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team,” the new policy reads.

However, the policy also states that a biological male can still practice on a women’s team and “receive benefits.”

“A student-athlete assigned male at birth may practice on an NCAA women’s team and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes,” the policy reads.

RIT has not confirmed to Fox News Digital whether Schreiner has been removed from the roster and is no longer practicing with the team. Schreiner still has a player profile page on the team’s official website.

Schreiner has been a controversial figure in women’s track and field this year after an appearance at the 2024 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship in May.

There, Schreiner finished last in the 400 meter, but still occupied a spot in the competition that could have gone to a biological female.

TEEN GIRLS OPEN UP ON TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL THAT TURNED THEIR HIGH SCHOOL INTO A CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUND

Earlier that month, Schreiner competed at the Liberty League Championship, and won both the women’s 200- and 400-meter, breaking the 400-meter record in the process. Schreiner would have finished last by more than two seconds if the athlete put up the same performance in the men’s competition.

Recently, in late January, Schreiner bragged after winning an event against female opponents.

“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 also made it a point to speak out against states and colleges that were not offering the trans athlete a full scholarship when Schreiner wanted to transfer, in December. The athlete blamed laws in 25 states that prohibit trans athletes from competing with girls and women.

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Sadie Schreiner races to qualify in the 400m race at the NCAA DIII outdoor track and field championships on May 24, 2024, in Myrtle Beach. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

“Among all the hurdles transfers usually have, there is an extra layer because it is trans, 50% of the country banned me from participating and that meant I couldn’t attend any of those colleges even if they reached out to me with a full ride,” Schreiner said.

“It also became clear that states that did, no matter how adamant the coaches were to have me on their teams, the college administrations would usually stop them from allowing me to participate.”

Now, Schreiner likely won’t be able to compete on any women’s college teams throughout the country with the NCAA’s new policy in place.

However, Schreiner would be able to compete on a men’s team, per the new policy.

“Regardless of sex assigned at birth or gender identity, a student-athlete may participate (practice and competition) in NCAA men’s sports, assuming they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements,” the new policy reads.

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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.

February 13, 2025
High school trans athletes fighting Trump’s executive order protecting girls’ sports in court

The families of two transgender high school athletes in New Hampshire have added President Donald Trump’s administration to a lawsuit challenging laws that prevent the athletes from competing in girls’ sports.

The teenage plaintiffs, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, originally filed the lawsuit last year to challenge a current New Hampshire state law prohibiting trans athletes from participating in girls’ sports. On Wednesday, a federal judge granted a request to add the Trump administration to the list of defendants over the president’s recent executive order.

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Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order on Feb. 5, which prohibited any federal funding for educational institutions that allow biological males to compete on women’s or girls’ sports teams.

New Hampshire was already one of 25 states with a law in place to enforce similar bans on trans inclusion, but Tirrell and Turmelle have been allowed to compete on girls’ teams anyway, thanks to the ruling of a federal judge in their state.

“The systematic targeting of transgender people across American institutions is chilling, but targeting young people in schools, denying them support and essential opportunities during their most vulnerable years, is especially cruel,” Chris Erchull, a GLAD attorney, said.

The lawyers claimed Trump’s executive order, along with parts of a Jan. 20 executive order that forbids federal money from being used to “promote gender ideology,” subjects the teens and all transgender girls to discrimination in violation of federal equal protection guarantees and their rights under Title IX.

NYC OFFICIAL REMOVES POST SUPPORTING TRUMP’S TRANS ATHLETE ORDER AFTER ‘GUIDANCE’ FROM MAYOR’S CHIEF OF STAFF

The lawyers also claimed the executive orders unlawfully subject the teens’ schools to the threat of losing federal funding for allowing them to play sports.

The situation involving the two trans athletes has also prompted a second lawsuit after parents wore wristbands that read “XX” in reference to the biological female chromosomes, and were allegedly banned from school grounds for wearing them.

Plaintiffs Kyle Fellers and Anthony Foote sued the Bow School District after being banned from school grounds for wearing the wristbands at their daughters’ soccer game in September.

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In the lawsuit filed by Fellers and Foote, they alleged they were told by school officials to remove the armbands or they would have to leave the game.

Both of the fathers say the intention of the armband was not to protest Tirrell, but to support their own daughters in a game that featured a biological male.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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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.

February 13, 2025
Trump Education Department launches Title IX probes into 2 blue states allegedly ignoring trans athlete order

The United States Department of Education has launched Title IX investigations into athletic associations in California and Minnesota after they said they would ignore President Donald Trump’s executive order to keep transgender athletes out of girls and women’s sports.

The Minnesota State High School League announced Thursday it will continue to allow transgender athletes to compete against girls despite Trump’s executive order to probibit them from doing so.

That came just days after 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.

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Donald Trump (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

“The Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want, but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

“(The Office of Civil Rights’) Chicago and San Francisco regional offices will conduct directed investigations into both organizations to ensure that female athletes in these states are treated with the dignity, respect and equality that the Trump administration demands. I would remind these organizations that history does not look kindly on entities and states that actively opposed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws that protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment.”

The Department of Education added that state laws do not override federal anti-discrimination laws, so the associations are subject to investigations.

Trump signed the executive order on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which celebrates female athletes in women’s sports and those committed to providing equal access to sports for all females.

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, D.C., Feb. 5, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)

The order states that “it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities” and to take “all appropriate action to affirmatively protect all-female athletic opportunities and all-female locker rooms and thereby provide the equal opportunity guaranteed by Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.”

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.

In response to Trump’s order, the NCAA changed its policy, in place since 2010, to disallow transgender athletes from competing against women, requiring them to compete based on their birth gender.

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.

Former President Donald Trump is joined onstage by Riley Gaines at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, Aug. 6, 2022. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

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The United Nations released study findings saying nearly 900 biological females have fallen short of winning medals because they lost to transgender athletes.

Minnesota, governed by Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, was home to a Supreme Court case in which a transgender powerlifter was continuing in a fight to compete against biological women.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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February 13, 2025
California families celebrate Trump administration’s probe into state’s refusal to follow trans athlete order

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education plans to investigate California’s public school athletic association, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), for not complying with his executive order to ban transgender athletes from girls sports.

The California Family Council (CFC) praised the decision.

“The California Family Council celebrates the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to launch a Title IX investigation into the CIF for its role in allowing males to compete in girls sports,” the statement said.

“For too long, CIF has turned a blind eye to the concerns of female athletes, parents and coaches, prioritizing radical gender ideology over fairness, safety and the integrity of women’s athletics. This investigation is a crucial step toward restoring justice in high school sports.”

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Students at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, Calif., wear T-shirts that say “Save Girls Sports” to protest a transgender athlete on the cross-country team. (Courtesy of Sophia Lorey)

CFC Outreach Director Sophia Lorey said the Trump administration’s intervention has made her cry “tears of joy.”

“As a four-year CIF varsity athlete and a three-year captain, I have been fighting for all girls to have the same athletic opportunities I had,” Lorey said. “CIF’s policies have undermined decades of hard-fought victories for female athletes, and it’s time for them to answer for the harm they’ve caused. CIF has ignored these injustices for too long, and we hope this investigation will finally force them to put the safety and fairness of girls over the feelings of confused boys.”

Lorey has advocated for girls affected by transgender athlete inclusion in California for three years.

Lorey intervened at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, in the fall, when a national controversy erupted over a transgender athlete who took a varsity spot from a girls’ cross-country runner.

TEEN GIRLS OPEN UP ON TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL THAT TURNED THEIR HIGH SCHOOL INTO A CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUND

That girl, Taylor Starling, then took matters into her own hands when she and teammate Kaitlyn Slavin made T-shirts that said “Save GIrls Sports” and started wearing them to school. They then filed a lawsuit against the school district when administrators allegedly scolded them for wearing the shirts and compared them to swastikas.

Starling’s father, Ryan Starling, expressed his gratitude to the Trump administration for taking action to investigate the state’s defiance of the recent executive order.

“Our family can’t thank President Trump enough. We are so excited to see common sense prevailing. This has been a long-fought battle for so many people on so many fronts. The battle is not over in the state of California, but each day we are moving a step closer because of so many courageous people like Taylor and Kaitlyn,” Ryan Starling told Fox News Digital.

Even school administrators who work within the jurisdiction of the CIF are celebrating the DOE’s investigation.

Transgender athlete supporter Kyle Harp, left, of Riverside, holds a pride flag as “Save Girls Sports” supporters Lori Lopez and her father, Pete Pickering, listen to debate over the rights of transgender athletes outside the Riverside Unified School District Dec. 19, 2024. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Chino Unified School Board President Sonja Shaw told Fox News Digital she is calling for consequences for all the institutions that have allowed transgender athletes to participate in girls sports.

“As a mother of two CIF athletes, school board president and advocate for children, I have seen firsthand the devastating impact of these policies. Girls are being pushed aside, their safety is compromised and their opportunities are being stolen,” Shaw said.

“This investigation is a critical step in the right direction, but we need real, decisive action. CIF — and any entity that violates Title IX — must face consequences, including the withdrawal of funding.

“We warned you, CIF. Now, face the consequences.”

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Amber French, a women’s swimmer at California Baptist University, argued the CIF allowing transgender athletes to compete with girls will deprive biological female athletes of college opportunities and jeopardizes their safety.

“If you allow males to compete in female sports, less females will have the opportunity to go to CIF and swim in front of college coaches to get recruited,” French told Fox News Digital. “Allowing males who do not want to compete against their sex compete in female races takes away from all the hard-working female athletes. There are separate categories for a reason.

“This investigation is the first step to protect the integrity, safety and opportunities of female sports.”

The CIF told Fox News Digital it has been notified of the forthcoming investigation.

“While the CIF has been notified of the investigation, we do not comment on pending investigations,” a CIF spokesperson said.

Trump’s DOE will also be investigating Minnesota’s high school athletics association for refusing to comply with the executive order.

The DOE is also investigating San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for separate incidents involving transgender athletes competing on a women’s or girls sports team.

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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.

February 13, 2025
Former Lia Thomas teammate calls out Democrats still fighting for trans athletes in women’s sports

EXCLUSIVE: Former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Grace Estabrook was one of the many young women who shared a pool and locker room with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2021-22 season.

From 2019, when she was first told Thomas would be joining her team, until her senior year in 2022, Estabrook alleged she was repeatedly pressured by the university not to oppose Thomas’ inclusion on the team. Estabrook told Fox News Digital that administrators tried to convince her that she would never get a job or get into grad school if she spoke out against it and that any issue she had with the situation was because she had a “psychological problem.”

And in between the practices and meets that made her feel “uncomfortable” and “powerless,” Estabrook says she also witnessed the mainstream media celebrate Thomas as a civil rights icon and even be nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.

But now, in 2025, Estabrook is one of three former UPenn swimmers who have filed a lawsuit against the university, the Ivy League and the NCAA over its handling of the situation as the tides on the issue turn in the court of public opinion.

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Penn’s Lia Thomas waits to swim in a qualifying heat of the 200-yard freestyle at the Ivy League Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Harvard University, Feb. 18, 2022, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

Fox News Digital reached out to UPenn for comment.

Recent data suggests the vast majority of Americans now oppose trans athletes in women’s sports. The NCAA recently changed its policy to prevent them from competing in the women’s category after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to address the issue last Wednesday.

Still, many Democrats continue to fight for trans inclusion in women’s and girls’ sports, and multiple states have not complied with Trump’s order.

For Estabrook, who says she lived through the experience of changing her clothes with Thomas in the room and being threatened not to complain about it, the thought of elected officials still fighting for a cause that ensures other women experience what she did is “depressing.”

“That’s just really depressing,” Estabrook said. “I just don’t know why anyone would want to perpetuate abuse to women on large scales like this. I think that’s why we are doing what we’re doing. It’s because we want a clear court decision that will help institutions be able to set clear policies to make sure this never happens again. We want that enduring legal precedent. … It’s depressing, but that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

Estabrook’s journey throughout the situation with UPenn has featured frequent “depressing” moments.

Her locker was only a few feet away from Thomas in the locker room, forcing her to back herself into a corner for the sake of her own comfort.

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“I would kind of back into a corner that had low visibility and just try to change as quickly as I could, and I had other teammates who would go into the bathroom stalls and change in there,” Estabrook said.

“We were the ones that were forced into hiding, it was very uncomfortable, and there was just this constant fear and disruption of peace of like, ‘OK, I just don’t have a safe environment here anymore,’ not only physically but emotionally and psychologically, and it was just incredibly stressful. I look back on it and I don’t know how I endured that.”

Estabrook added that the situation put “incredible” stress on both her mind and body, and it disrupted her swimming ability.

The positive media coverage of Thomas was the insulting cherry on top of the situation for Estabrook. She said that many times when she and her teammates traveled to a meet, they not only had to deal with the anxiety of Thomas in their space but also a horde of reporters there to cover the trans athlete in a positive light.

“I just remember feeling, ‘This is so alien,’” Estabrook said. “It just felt like it was this whole celebration of Thomas and the whole transgender ideology movement.”

“All of the media I remember seeing or reading at the time was celebrating Thomas as this groundbreaking figurehead of the transgender community … there was just such a celebration of it that it was really pushed in our faces and forcing us to accept it.”

Estabrook said the hardest moment of the experience came at the 2022 Ivy League championships. She hoped that Thomas would be ruled ineligible to participate. However, the Ivy League allowed Thomas to swim. Thomas ultimately set pool records in every individual event the athlete competed in and topped the victor’s podium four times.

Thomas went on to put up a similar performance at the 2022 NCAA championships. There, Thomas ended up in an infamous tie with former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines. That tie ultimately sparked the seeds for change that gave Estabrook and countless other women hope when the experience prompted Gaines to speak up and become a prominent advocate for women’s athletes seeking protection from trans inclusion.

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Former UPenn swimmer Grace Estabrook (Grace Estabrook)

“I was just so grateful for her bravery,” Estabrook said. “I really do feel empowered by the work that Riley Gaines has been doing and seeing women jump on that same train and start to speak out. … It empowered me to be able to do the same.”

More hope came this past year after Trump pledged during a Fox News town hall interview in October that, if elected, he would ban trans athletes in women’s sports. Trump won the election, and exit polls suggested the issue of trans inclusion played a prominent role in the decision of many moderate voters.

Trump quickly made good on his promise, signing the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order last Wednesday. For Estabrook, seeing this come to fruition has gone a long way in affirming her political beliefs.

“I was very excited to hear that and even more excited when that became a reality last week so quickly after he took office,” Estabrook said. “It’s just very encouraging to see that we have a president who is just so supportive of us and is also seeing this in accordance with reality.”

Estabrook’s lawsuit, which has been filed alongside former teammates Ellen Holmquist and Margot Kaczorowski, seeks to have all of Thomas’ records and accolades as a woman swimmer revoked.

In addition to Estabrook’s lawsuit, Trump’s Department of Education has launched an investigation into potential Title IX violations that occurred at UPenn and has also advised the NCAA to discard Thomas’ accolades in the women’s category.

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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.

February 12, 2025
San Diego fails to pass measure protecting girls from trans athletes despite pleas from parents

A middle school in San Diego has been thrust into local controversy because of a transgender student using the girls’ locker room.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted against a measure to carry out the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would prevent trans athletes from competing in girls’ sports or entering girls’ locker rooms.

Vice Chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors Jim Desmond brought forth the proposal at a San Diego Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. However, the measure did not get any votes from other supervisors outside of Desmond.

“People came into the meeting with their minds already made up on the issue,” Desmond told Fox News Digital.

“The rest were mothers who just didn’t think it was fair or safe for males to be playing in girls’ or women’s safe. So the room was probably 60-40 in favor of letting them play, but I think that’s just the turnout of who was able to take the day off and come down here. I think the vast majority of the people in San Diego County agree that males should not be playing in women’s and girls’ sports.”

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Tuesday’s meeting featured several arguments from concerned parents who expressed their concern over their daughters being forced to share locker rooms with biological males.

The middle school where this controversy is taking place, San Elijo Middle School, provided a statement to Fox News Digital, crediting its enabling of the transgender student to access the girls’ locker room to the school’s obligation of following state law.

“Public school districts in California are governed by, and must act in accordance with, California state law and the California Education Code,” San Elijo Middle School’s statement reads.

“As a California public school district, we will continue to follow state law and guidance from the California Department of Education to ensure that all students are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness. Our district remains committed to upholding policies that support all students, in accordance with state protections and anti-discrimination laws.”

President Donald Trump signed the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order last Wednesday, which cuts federal funding for any educational institution that allows biological males to compete with girls and women.

However, multiple states, including California, have insisted they will not comply with Trump’s order. According to USA Facts, California public schools receive about $16.8 billion per year, which is 13.9% or one in every seven dollars of public school funding, which is well above the national average.

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.

“The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records,” a CIF statement said.

Desmond said that many of his local constituents reached out to him expressing concern and disbelief about the state’s handling of the situation.

“They think it’s crazy, and I’ve heard questions of ‘is it even legal?’” Desmond said.

For Desmond, as a Republican, he sees the Democrat refusal to comply with Trump’s order as an issue that will continue to harm support for the party in his state.

“These people didn’t get the message in the last election and they’re just digging the hole deeper. They’re doubling down, digging their heels in the ground, ‘yes we’re right,’” Desmond said, adding that he thinks and hopes the trans athlete debate will strengthen Republican support in California.

TEEN GIRLS OPEN UP ON TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL THAT TURNED THEIR HIGH SCHOOL INTO A CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUND

“I think it’s empowering us with the new administration to stand up and do what’s right. And that’s all we’re trying to do, we’re not trying to discriminate against anybody. If you want to be trans, if you want to identify as another [gender], fine, go for it, you have that right, but where do your rights end and somebody else’s begin? You can’t have one boy cause 30 girls to have to leave and go change some place else, that’s not right, we need a better system.”

The decision by California not to comply with Trump’s order has recently prompted backlash and even protests and threats of lawsuits by the state’s residents.

On Friday, residents gathered in Long Beach, California, to protest outside a CIF federated board meeting. The protesters then spoke at the board meeting, pleading with the CIF officials to follow the president’s order and threatening civil lawsuits against the CIF and state.

Currently, there is one lawsuit against the CIF and the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, over a situation at Martin Luther King High School involving a trans athlete on the girls’ cross-country team.

A recent school board meeting by the Riverside Unified School District on Dec. 19 featured a parade of parents berating the board for allowing a trans athlete on the Martin Luther King girls’ cross-country team. A lawsuit filed by two girls on the team alleges that their T-shirts in protest of that player were compared to swastikas simply because they said “Save Girls Sports.”

The father of a girl who lost her varsity spot to the trans athlete previously told Fox News Digital that his daughter and other girls at the school were told “transgenders have more rights than cisgender[s]” by school administrators when they protested the athlete’s participation.

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That is just one controversy in the state that has erupted over the last year from its laws that enable trans inclusion in girls’ sports.

Stone Ridge Christian High School’s girls’ volleyball team was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament but forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete on the team.

A transgender volleyball player was booed and harassed at an Oct. 12 match between Notre Dame Belmont in Belmont, California, against Half Moon Bay High School, according to ABC 7. Half Moon Bay rostered the transgender athlete.

California State Assembly member Kate Sanchez announced on Jan. 7 that she is introducing a bill to ban trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

Sanchez will propose the Protect Girls’ Sports Act to the state legislature. Currently, 25 states have similar laws in effect.

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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.

February 12, 2025
NYC official removes post supporting Trump’s trans athlete order after ‘guidance’ from mayor’s chief of staff

As some states have refused to comply with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that bans trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, New York is at an impasse over the issue.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) provided a statement to Fox News Digital saying it has advised schools to comply with current state law that allows trans athletes to compete with girls, but is gathering public input before making a final decision.

“While we await further clarification, I strongly advise that NYSPHSAA member schools continue to adhere to current New York state anti-discrimination laws, which allow students to participate on interscholastic teams that best align with their gender identity,” NYSPHSAA Executive Director Dr. Robert J. Zayas said.

“I am actively working with state officials to assess the implications of this executive order and determine appropriate next steps. Yesterday, I spoke with Dr. Betty Rosa, commissioner of the New York State Education Department (NYSED), regarding this matter. She has requested that I collect any questions or concerns from the field, which she will then discuss with the Attorney General’s Office to provide us with guidance and direction.”

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However, as Zayas advised New York schools to continue enabling trans inclusion, an official in New York City spoke out about her support for Trump’s executive order.

Director of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ Office of Sports, Wellness and Recreation Jasmine Ray stated her position in favor of following Trump’s order on her Instagram Stories over the weekend, via Gothamist.

“To those asking about my position, as Director of NYC Sports & Rec, I stand with the recent executive order reinforcing the importance of fairness in women’s sports,” she wrote.

However, the outlet reported Ray later took down her story and says she deleted it at the “guidance” of the mayor’s chief of staff, Camille Joseph Varlack.

“I take full responsibility for the error in judgment,” Ray told Gothamist. “I am committed to maintaining the separation between my personal beliefs and my professional responsibilities.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Adams’ office for comment.

Since Trump’s order went into effect last Wednesday, multiple states and high school athletic associations have made it clear that they won’t enforce it, and will continue protecting trans athletes in girls’ sports.

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California is the most prominent.

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.

“The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records,” a CIF statement said.

The decision has prompted backlash and even protests and threats of lawsuits by California residents.

Minnesota and Massachusetts are among the other states that have indicated they will continue protecting trans athletes in girls’ sports.

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not 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.

Democratic opposition to GOP efforts to restrict trans inclusion has alienated some longtime Democrat voters. In January, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, all but two Democratic House members voted against it.

Prominent Democrats, including House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Vt., Rep. Suzanne Bonamic, D-Ore., Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Rep. Whip Clark, D-Mass., argued that the bill would “empower” child predators to give genital examinations to young girls. There was no language in the bill that suggested genital examinations would be necessary.

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The argument alienated some of the party’s loyal voters, who have unregistered as Democrats in response.

“That just made me very upset because it screamed out lack of integrity, lack of honesty,” prominent law professor and lifelong Democrat Gary Francione told Fox News Digital “This is the way you fight battles? By trying to insult other people who oppose you and disagree with and insinuate that they’re child molesters or pedophiles? It seems to me you’ve lost the game… I don’t know how they’re ever going to come back from this.”

Francione has a lifelong network of other Democrats in the field of law and other industries, and says many of them share his beliefs and will also be unregistering from the party.

“I can say confidently of the people I know who are Democrats who I’ve spoken to, the vast majority of them are very unhappy about all of this stuff and feel that the party has lost its way,” Francione said. “I know a couple who said they are going to [unregister].”

Other Democratic lawmakers have also spoken out against the party’s platform of enabling trans athletes to compete against girls and women. They include Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Reps. Colin Allred, Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar, of Texas, Rep. Mary Peltola, of Alaska, and Rep. Tom Suozzi, of New York.

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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.

February 11, 2025
Education Department calls on NCAA, NFHS to strip awards, records ‘misappropriated’ by trans athletes

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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February 11, 2025
Hegseth bans future trans soldiers, makes sweeping changes for current ones

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instituted a ban on allowing transgender people to join the military late last week, following a directive from President Donald Trump.

A memo dated Feb. 7 and signed by the defense secretary says, “Effective immediately, all new accessions for individuals with a history of gender dysphoria are paused.”

“All scheduled, unscheduled, or planned medical procedures associated with affirming or facilitating a gender transition for service members are paused.”

The memo also says service members with gender dysphoria “have volunteered to serve our country and will be treated with dignity and respect.”

But the memo was unclear about what would happen to those currently in the military and identifying as a gender different than that assigned at birth, delegating responsibility to the under secretary for personnel and readiness to provide policy and implementation guidance for active service members with gender dysphoria.

TRANSGENDER SERVICE MEMBERS AND RIGHTS GROUPS FILE SUIT AGAINST TRUMP’S PENTAGON DIRECTIVE

The Pentagon could not immediately be reached for comment on the status of current transgender service members.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instituted a ban on allowing transgender people to join the military late last week, following a directive from President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

During a military town hall on Friday, Hegseth tore into diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

“I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is, ‘Our diversity is our strength.’ I think our strength is our unity,” he said.

Hegseth went on: “Our strength is our shared purpose, regardless of our background, regardless of how we grew up, regardless of our gender, regardless of our race. In this department, we will treat everyone equally, we will treat everyone with respect, and we will judge you as an individual by your merit and by your commitment to the team and the mission.”

Late last month, the Pentagon declared identity months, including Black History Month and Women’s History Month, “dead” within DoD and said it would not use resources to celebrate them.

An executive order signed by Trump last month required Hegseth to update medical standards to ensure they “prioritize readiness and lethality” and take action to “end the use of invented and identification-based pronouns” within DOD.

It says that expressing a “gender identity” different from an individual’s sex at birth does not meet military standards.

The order also restricts sleeping, changing and bathing facilities by biological sex. It’s not an immediate ban, but a direction for the secretary to implement such policies.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDERS BANNING ‘RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY,’ DEI INITIATIVES IN THE MILITARY

It revokes former President Joe Biden’s executive order that the White House argues “allowed for special circumstances to accommodate ‘gender identity’ in the military – to the detriment of military readiness and unit cohesion.”

The Pentagon declared identity months, including Black History Month and Women’s History Month, “dead” within DoD and said it would not use resources to celebrate them. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

A categorical ban on transgender service members was lifted in 2014 under President Barack Obama.

There are an estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender service members – exact figures are not publicly available.

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Between Jan. 1, 2016, and May 14, 2021, the DOD reportedly spent approximately $15 million on providing transgender treatments (surgical and nonsurgical) to 1,892 active duty service members, according to the Congressional Research Service.

February 10, 2025
Trans youth mental health psychiatrist resigns from NCAA committee after org complies with Trump order

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.

February 10, 2025