On February 5, 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which aims to prohibit transgender women and girls from participating in female sports across all educational levels.
The executive order adopts the strict biological interpretation of sex previously established by Executive Order 14168. It sets forth new U.S. policies to rescind federal funding from educational programs that allow transgender women and girls to compete on female teams and oppose transgender women’s and girls’ participation in female sports more broadly.
The order requires the secretary of Education to continue to comply with the recent nationwide vacatur of 2024 regulations expanding Title IX protections to include gender identity and take all appropriate actions — including Title IX enforcement actions against educational institutions — to ensure the mandate of the order is carried out.
It also directs additional actions in furtherance of its purpose, including convening state attorneys general to identify best practices in support of the executive order and promoting standards consistent with the order at the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee.
Once the executive order was issued, the Department of Education immediately undertook a review of athletics policies of universities and athletic associations that supported the participation of transgender women and girls in female sports for possible Title IX violations. Also on the heels of the order, the NCAA revised its participation policy for transgender student-athletes.
At least one legal challenge has emerged in response to the executive order. On February 12, 2025, two transgender high school students in New Hampshire filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 discriminate against transgender individuals in violation of the Constitution and Title IX.
Such challenges are expected to raise the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, 140 S. Ct. 1731 (2020), which concluded under Title VII that discrimination based on gender identity inherently involves treating individuals differently because of their sex.
The executive order has also prompted action at the municipal level. On February 11, 2025, Worcester, Massachusetts, voted to become the latest transgender sanctuary city, committing to refuse cooperation with entities that infringe on the rights of transgender individuals.
See the Executive Briefing publication
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