Pres. Donald Trump at the White House (left); University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas after winning 500 Freestyle finals during the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 17th, 2022 (right)
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The Department of Education is urging the NCAA to strip awards and records from transgender athletes. The NCAA last month banned transgender student-athletes from participating in sports aligned with their gender identity.
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“Because of President Trump’s bold leadership, men will no longer be allowed to compete in women’s sports regardless of how they identify, and the NCAA has correctly changed its tune on its discriminatory practices against female athletes,” Candice Jackson, deputy general counsel for the DOE, said in a statement. “The next necessary step is to restore athletic records to women who have for years been devalued, ignored, and forced to watch men steal their accolades.”
Related: Donald Trump bans transgender athletes from playing sports
President Donald Trump has targeted transgender rights in a series of executive orders in the first days of his second administration. One of the orders signed on January 20, his first day in office, entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” defined sex as male or female based on the “immutable biological reality of sex.”
On January 29, he signed an order entitled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” which barred schools that receive federal funding allowing trans students from participating in sports, using bathrooms and changing facilities, and choosing pronouns that align with their gender identity.
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Related: NCAA caves and says it will obey Trump order banning trans athletes
“It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” the order states. “These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” It goes on to claim that “gender ideology replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity,” and called it a “false claim” that must be eradicated from federal policy.
In response to that order, the NCAA announced it would no longer permit trans student-athletes from participating in sports aligned with their gender identity.
“The updated policy combined with these resources follows through on the NCAA's constitutional commitment to deliver intercollegiate athletics competition and to protect, support and enhance the mental and physical health of student-athletes,” Baker said in a statement on February 6. “This national standard brings much needed clarity as we modernize college sports for today's student-athletes.”
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The new request would affect the awards and records of University of Pennsylvania trans woman swimmer Lia Thomas, who made history in 2022 as the first transgender NCAA Division I champion when she won the 500-yard freestyle event.
The NCAA did not indicate whether it will honor the new request. Meanwhile, Jackson made clear her department will continue to target the transgender community.
“The 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,” Jackson said.
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