BY: Nick Fulton
Published 1 week ago
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has officially banned trans women from all participation in women’s sports.
The policy change follows an executive order from the Trump White House titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The order outlines Trump’s strict guidelines around sex-based participation in collegiate and professional sports. The USOPC claims that as a federally chartered organization, it is committed to obeying such orders. The USOPC is a nonprofit corporation that receives no federal funding. The U.S. government’s stance on trans athletes holds no legal ramifications for an organization like the USOPC.
The new policy avoids any use of the word “transgender” but emphasizes a complete acceptance of the Trump executive order. There has never been an Olympic medal won by a trans woman. Trans women’s participation in Olympic sports is nearly nonexistent. Only two openly trans women have ever made it to the Olympics, and only one has actually competed.
Experts and Advocates React
Advocates quickly responded to the USOPC’s concession to Trump’s order. The National Women’s Law Center, a legal advocacy group, released a statement saying, “By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes.” GLAAD, an LGBTQIA advocacy organization, also posted a response stating, “This wrong turn by the committee does nothing but open the door to discrimination against all girls and women who want to compete in sports at any level, including those who are not transgender, subjecting all women to unreasonable privacy invasions and bodily inspections.”
Trump’s anti-trans executive order is one of many that have come from the White House. These orders include stripping trans freedoms, such as access to correct passport gender markers, and banning military participation.
Industry-wide Impact
The USOPC’s concession to the executive order sets a potentially dangerous precedent for other nongovernmental sports corporations. Other large sports organizations, including World Aquatics, the World Boxing Organization, the NCAA, and the International Cycling Union, have implemented similar bans barring trans athletic participation in some regard.
Alternatively, USA Ultimate — the national governing body of Ultimate Frisbee and a USOPC affiliate — has affirmed its commitment to trans and nonbinary athletes, citing its policy that allows all athletes to compete where they are most comfortable.
The Trump administration’s anti-trans agenda has absorbed a considerable amount of his first six months in office. The actual population of trans people under the spotlight is extremely small. Trans people make up less than 2% of the U.S. population and just 0.002% of U.S. college athletes.
Bans With No Backing
There is a growing body of evidence that shows these bans are not supported by science. A study in the Journal of Sports Medicine challenges claims of an overt athletic advantage between trans women and cisgender women. Another study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine unpacks the physical disadvantages of trans women on average across several athletic categories.
The USOPC’s compliance with Trump’s executive order is a step backward for all athletes. With the new policies in place, all eyes will be on Italy’s 2026 Winter Olympics and Los Angeles’ 2028 Summer Olympics.
