Executive Order 14201, titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports", is an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...

signed by U.S. president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in an attempt to ban transgender women athletes of all ages from competing on girls and

women's sports Women and girls have participated in sports, physical fitness, and exercise throughout history. However, the extent of their involvement has varied depending on factors such as country, time, geographical location, and level of economic develo ...

teams. The executive order threatens to revoke federal funding from any elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institution that allows transgender girls to play on girls' teams, claiming they are in violation of

Title IX Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receiv ...

. The order does not ban transgender men athletes from playing on male sports teams.

Reactions

The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

president

Charlie Baker Charles Duane Baker Jr. (born November 13, 1956) is an American politician serving as the sixth president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 72nd governor of Massa ...

stated that the NCAA would comply with the executive order, and praised it for providing "a clear, national standard" on the issue compared to the existing conflicting state laws and court decisions previously. Prior to that, less than 10 of the NCAA's 500,000 athletes were trans. On February 6, 2025, the NCAA changed its policy to limit college competitions in women's sports to athletes who were

assigned female at birth Sex assignment (also known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex, typically made at birth based on an examination of the baby's external genitalia by a healthcare provider such as a midwife, nurse, or physician. In the ...

, effective immediately. The

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have s ...

which sanctions high school sports in California stated that it would continue to follow state law and allow trans athletes to play high school sports despite the executive order.

Related polls

In January 2025, a

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and

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survey found that 79% of Americans support restricting transgender athletes from competing in women's sports. Previously, a similar poll conducted in 2023 by

Gallup Gallup may refer to: * Gallup, Inc., a firm founded by George Gallup, well known for its opinion poll * Gallup (surname), a surname *Gallup, New Mexico, a city in New Mexico, United States ** Gallup station, an Amtrak train in downtown Gallup, New ...

found that nearly 69% of U.S. adults say transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that correspond with the sexes they were assigned at birth.

Related legislation by U.S. Congress

In January 2025, the Republican-controlled

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

passed the "Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act" of 2025 that restricts transgender students from playing on women's sports teams. The measure amended Title IX, the federal education law that bars sex-based discrimination, to define sex as based solely on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth. The Republican lawmakers argued the bill will protect equal opportunity in athletics for women, mentioning that cisgender women could have physical disadvantages against transgender athletes. Democratic lawmakers, led by

Suzanne Bonamici Suzanne Marie Bonamici ( ; born October 14, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Oregon's 1st congressional district, a seat she was first elected to in a 2012 Oregon's 1st congressional district speci ...

, claimed that the bill puts young girls who want to play sports at risk of harassment and abuse by allowing adults to ask for gender checks and even perform genital investigations. They pointed to an example of a high school girl in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

being investigated because "she didn't look feminine enough", and warn about the harassment and bullying that will result from this legislation being introduced. On March 3, 2025, the bill was blocked in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

by a party-line vote of 51–45, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation.

Outcomes

Following the executive order, the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

urged high school and college athletics organizations NCAA and NFHS to revoke female transgender athletes' records and restore cisgender athletes' ones.

Candice Jackson Candice Erin Jackson (born March 9, 1978) is an American lawyer and former government official from California. She served in the Trump administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and Outreach in the Office for Civil ...

explained that it is to "restore athletic records to women who have for years been devalued, ignored and forced to watch men steal their accolades." On February 25, 2025, the State Department announced a ban on transgender athletes from entering the United States if they attempt to compete in women's sports, and that visa applicants suspected of such would have their file marked with the letters 'SWS25' for the purposes of tracking.

References

External links

Full text of the executive order
via ''

whitehouse.gov whitehouse.gov or wh.gov is the official website of the White House and is managed by the Office of Digital Strategy of the White House Office under the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It was launched in 1994 by the ...

''
Full text of the executive order
in the ''

Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the government gazette, official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every wee ...