U.S Olympic and Paralympic Committee Bans Transgender Athletes
The ban complies with Trump’s executive order targeting trans athletes issued back in February.
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On Monday, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) quietly updated its policy, complying with the Trump Administration’s order to ban transgender women athletes from sports competition in the women’s category.
The change, first reported by the New York Times, follows Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” issued back in February. The order has continued to exclude trans people from all forms of life by erasing the letter T as in trans from the LGBTQ+ acronym on government websites and freezing funding at universities that have let trans athletes compete.
The updated USOPC policy, which does not directly use the word ‘transgender,’ says, “The USOPC is committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport. The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities, e.g., IOC, IPC, NGBs, to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens & Amateur Sports Act, 36 U.S.C § 22501, et. seq.”
At the top of the transgender athlete policy on the USOPC website, it states, “As of July 21, 2025, please refer to the USOPC athlete safety policy.” But in the guiding principles of the transgender athlete policy, the old policy remains. That policy, which was agreed upon in 2022, states that the committee would “rely on real data and science-based evidence rather than ideology.”
This policy in action will prevent transgender women athletes from competing or force them to compete in the men’s category.
“By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes. The vagueness of the Committee’s policy will leave athletes unprotected from humiliating sex-testing practices. Athletes will now be subject to intrusive questioning and demands for traumatizing physical exams as they prove they are women enough to play,” said the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). “The USOPC should devote its energy to the real and serious disparities harming women athletes: fewer chances to participate across all sports compared to boys and men; worse facilities, coaching, and equipment placing girls and women at greater risk of injury; and endemic sex harassment and assault perpetrated against women athletes.”
Transgender people make up 0.6% of the worldwide population. In the United States, trans people make up less than 0.002%. This executive order, enacted under the guise of “protecting women,” instead harms all women by creating an environment fueled by hatred and fear that encourages false allegations and misinformation. It encourages bullying, discrimination, and violence.
