Christine Horner, copy editor
The Trump Administration continues to target Trans athletes yet again. United States Attorney General Pam Bondi issued letters to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Director of the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) Erich Martens, Gov. Janet Mills of Maine and Executive Director of the California Interscholastic Federation Ron Nocetti on Feb. 25, threatening to sue each of their respective states if they do not comply with President Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order, as stated by CBS News. According to the White House’s website, Title IX prohibits public schools from denying women an “equal opportunity to participate in sports.” However, the executive order also cites Tennessee v. Cardona, “ignoring fundamental biological truths between the two sexes deprives women and girls of meaningful access to educational facilities.”
President Trump and his administration are heavily implying that including Trans girls in sports will squash opportunities for cisgender girls to excel as athletes. This idea is not only damaging to Trans girls, but to cisgender girls as well. Does the Trump Administration really think that women are inherently so physically weak that we can’t possibly beat someone without a uterus? Is testosterone really that powerful that we could never stand a chance? What happened to girl power and believing in ourselves? Women athletes have fought long and hard for equality and there’s still a long way to go. Attacking Trans girls will not advance this movement.
Does the Trump Administration really think that women are inherently so physically weak that we can’t possibly beat someone without a uterus? Is testosterone really that powerful that we could never stand a chance? What happened to girl power and believing in ourselves?
Christine Horner
Bondi sure seems to think that the fraction of girls in student sports who identify as Trans are a danger to the cisgender girls in them. According to PinkNews, this fraction consisted of an estimated five people in the entire U.S. in 2023. Bondi is going to incredibly great lengths to target such a small population. “We will leverage every legal option necessary to ensure state compliance with federal law and President Trump’s executive order protecting women’s sports,” Bondi stated, according to CBS News. She also doesn’t seem to be exerting any effort into “protecting boys.” In President Trump’s executive order and Bondi’s letters, Trans boy athletes don’t appear to be mentioned, let alone attacked the way that Trans girls are. What’s the reason for this — do boys just not matter, or are girls too weak to defend themselves?
Regardless of the answer, the Trump Administration’s actions against Trans rights are performative. They don’t care if women succeed; if they did, we would have free tampons in the locker rooms and women athletes would be paid the same amount as men athletes. Fortunately, according to CBS News, the state leaders who received Bondi’s letters don’t seem to have any intention of complying with her demands. In fact, Gov. Mills even threatened to sue President Trump, telling him, “See you in court.”