U.S. Olympic Committee Is Bending to Trump’s Anti-Trans Animus

In an email to the “Team USA Community,” officials said they have “an obligation to comply with federal expectations.”

By Danielle Han | July 23, 2025 | 2:13pm

Photo: iStockphoto Olympics Politics

U.S. Olympic Committee Is Bending to Trump’s Anti-Trans Animus

Donald Trump has long held some diabolical vendetta against transgender people. On day one of term two, the president signed an executive order recognizing only two biological sexes, saying they are “not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” Since then, his administration has caused gender-affirming clinics to shut down, passed a passport policy that targeted trans people (it was later blocked by a federal judge), and erased trans contributions to modern history.

In this piling heap of obsessively hateful mandates is Executive Order 14201, or “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports”–whose latest mudhook into validation comes via the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Through a quiet change to its Athlete Safety Policy, the committee has essentially banned trans women from women’s sporting competitions.

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That is, through fine print. The actual safety policy doesn’t include the word “transgender.” Instead, it references its commitment “to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport” and saying its changes are “to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act.” Like, really? Just cut to the chase.

Defending their policy to the “Team USA Community” via email on Tuesday, Gene Sykes, the committee’s president, and Sarah Hirshland, its CEO, reportedly explained: “As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations.” They then added: “Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.”

Besides its lack of backbone, the committee has made nothing clear. No one knows how the new policy will be implemented or what it means for men’s sports. It could also clash with state-imposed rules that are openly defying Trump’s ban on trans women competing in sports, despite warnings from the administration.

Kirsty Coventry, the new president of the International Olympic Committee, has yet to comment on the matter. But her stance on female eligibility could change a lot. Since being named the first female head of the IOC in June, Coventry’s comments have been vague, but she did say the IOC has “to protect the female category” and assigned a new committee to determine better rules.

For years now, trans women athletes have been systemically caught in the crossfire of opposing politics, often disguised as productive biological discourse. Yet largely, the concerns around letting trans women compete are rooted in myth, and the science is typically framed with bias. (Say it again for the people in the back: There is little to no scientific evidence to suggest trans women and girls have an advantage in sport!)

But convincing the hard-pressed ideologues might be a fruitless task, and one that reveals some very strange priorities. “I don’t care about Trump getting handsy with somebody 20 years ago,” former Fox News Megyn Kelly recently said on a podcast. “I want someone who will close the border and someone who will keep boys out of my daughter’s sports.” This is the same woman who continuously denigrated Algerian boxer Imane Khelif by calling her a man throughout the Paris 2024 Olympics. So, congrats to the U.S. Olympic Committee; you’re on the far-right side of bigotry.

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