Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports
This is an executive order signed February 5, 2025, titled Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports. It directs federal agencies to promote sex-based participation in sports and to protect opportunities for women and girls in competitive athletics. The order frames male participation in women’s sports as unfair, unsafe, and contrary to Title IX, and it seeks to rescind or avoid policies and funding that it views as diluting women’s opportunities. It also directs interagency and international actions—such as convening athletic organizations, shaping enforcement under Title IX, reviewing immigration policies for entrants into women’s sports, and urging international sport bodies (notably the IOC) to uphold sex-based eligibility standards. In short, it aims to prioritize sex-based (not gender-identity-based) criteria for athletic participation in federal programs, and to influence domestic and international sports policy accordingly. The order relies on definitions from another executive order (EO 14168) and emphasizes enforcement actions against institutions that require or permit male participation in women’s sports, threats to withhold federal funds for noncompliant programs, and policy actions intended to keep athletic opportunities, locker rooms, and other female-only spaces reserved for women. It also signals a broader stance—policy, immigration, and international sports diplomacy—designed to align U.S. practice with a sex-based framework for female athletics.
Key Points
- 1Policy stance and funding focus: The order declares that allowing men to compete in women’s sports is demeaning and unfair, and directs the rescission of federal funds from programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities; it seeks broader opposition to male participation in women’s sports as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.
- 2Definitions and legal framework: It applies definitions from EO 14168 to determine eligibility and scope, anchoring the policy in a sex-based (biological) framework for athletic participation rather than gender identity alone.
- 3Education and enforcement actions (Sec. 3):
- 4- (a)(i) Work with the Attorney General to vacate the 2024 nondiscrimination rule related to sex in education programs, and ensure it does not take effect.
- 5- (ii) Require actions to protect female athletic opportunities and locker rooms, align regulations with the goal of equal athletic opportunity under Title IX, and pursue enforcement as needed.
- 6- (iii) Prioritize Title IX enforcement against institutions that force female students to compete against males or otherwise deny fair opportunities.
- 7Domestic and international policy actions (Sec. 4):
- 8- (a) Within 60 days, convene major athletic organizations and female athletes harmed by current policies, and convene State Attorneys General to share best practices.
- 9- (b) State Department actions to reverse support for exchanges or programs that base female sports categories on identity rather than sex, and to promote sex-based norms internationally; may convene international bodies and affected female athletes.
- 10- (c) Review U.S. admission policies for males seeking to participate in women’s sports and issue guidance to limit such entries where legally permissible.
- 11- (d) Engage with international bodies (e.g., IOC) to ensure eligibility standards for women’s events are based on sex, not gender identity or testosterone suppression.
- 12General provisions (Sec. 5): The order preserves existing statutory authority and budgetary processes, does not create new rights, and includes severability if parts are invalid.