By Natalie Andrews and Louise Radnofsky
WASHINGTON—President Trump is preparing to issue an executive order Wednesday effectively banning transgender girls and women from participating in female sports events in schools and colleges, fulfilling a promise that fueled his campaign for the White House.
Trump will sign an order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” Wednesday afternoon, said people familiar with the matter, including a White House official and a member of Congress.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) said Tuesday in a press release she plans to join the president as he issues the order. “This executive order restores fairness, upholds Title IX’s original intent, and defends the rights of female athletes who have worked their whole lives to compete at the highest levels,” Mace said in her press release, which also said that the signing coincides with the 39th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what the contents of the order would entail, but one option is for the president to direct the Education Department to interpret federal Title IX rules as barring the participation of transgender girls and women in female sports categories. People on different sides of the issue have anticipated that the department would then base its policies and future regulations around this interpretation, issuing guidance to schools to act accordingly—and investigating alleged violations.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) plans to join the president as he issues the executive order. PHOTO: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
The scope of the order stands to instantly affect any educational institution that receives federal funding—which includes almost every college in the U.S., as well as the majority of K-12 schools. The Title IX provision in the Education Amendments Act of 1972 prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational activities, though the meaning of that has been hotly contested for decades, mostly recently focusing on its application to transgender students.
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