The Education Department on Tuesday urged organizations overseeing high school and college athletics to strip records, titles and awards from transgender women who competed in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The department sent a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) calling on them to \u201crestore to female athletes the records, titles, awards, and recognitions misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories,\u201d according to a news release from the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Candice Jackson, deputy general counsel for the Education Department, said women athletes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201chave for years been devalued, ignored, and forced to watch men steal their accolades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Trump Education Department will do everything in our power to right this wrong and champion the hard-earned accomplishments of past, current, and future female collegiate athletes,\u201d Jackson said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The department added that \u201ccorrecting the record\u201d is consistent with the NCAA\u2019s new policy<\/a> prohibiting trans women from competing in women\u2019s sports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The NCAA\u2019s policy change came the day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week<\/a> barring trans girls and women from competing in female sports. The order threatens to revoke federal funding from schools that don\u2019t comply. The order does not bar trans boys and men from playing on male sports teams, and the department\u2019s letter to the NCAA and NFHS does not mention reversing awards won by trans men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Education Department\u2019s release Tuesday quoted Riley Gaines, a former swimmer for the University of Kentucky who now advocates against including trans women in women\u2019s sports. In 2022, Gaines, a 12-time NCAA All American, tied for fifth with Lia Thomas, a trans woman who swam for the University of Pennsylvania, in the women\u2019s 200-meter NCAA championships. That same year, Thomas became the first trans woman to win an NCAA championship<\/a> when she won the 500-yard freestyle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor the past four years, women have been begging for equal opportunities to compete and succeed, only to be ignored,\u201d Gaines, who attended Trump\u2019s signing of the executive order, stated. \u201cA president who recognizes and celebrates women for our accomplishments is long overdue. Restoring stolen athletic accolades to their rightful owners is a crucial step towards reinstating accountability, integrity, and common sense \u2014 one that I wholeheartedly support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 500,000 student-athletes compete<\/a> in NCAA championship sports, according to the association. While it\u2019s unclear how many are transgender, NCAA President Charlie Baker told a Senate committee in December<\/a> that he is aware of fewer than 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NFHS reported that more than 8 million students<\/a> competed in high school sports last year, though the organization does not report how many are trans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2021, when dozens of states considered legislation to restrict trans athletes\u2019 participation in school sports, The Associated Press reached out to more than two dozen state lawmakers<\/a> sponsoring the measures along with conservative groups supporting them and found that sponsors could not cite a single instance in their own state or region where such participation had caused problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to Trump\u2019s trans sports order, more than half of states had enacted measures<\/a> restricting trans athletes from playing school sports on the teams that align with their gender identities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s order is likely to face lawsuits. Courts have blocked state bans<\/a> in Arizona, Idaho, Utah and West Virginia. New Hampshire\u2019s restriction has been blocked against the two trans plaintiffs who sued, and Montana\u2019s law has been permanently blocked from taking effect in colleges but not K-12 schools, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n