A new policy poised to intensify the backlash against trans women in sports.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee has officially placed a ban on trans women that stops them from competing in all women’s sports. This ban was confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies on Monday, 21 July 2025, which follows an executive order issued in February 2025 by U.S. President Donald Trump. In the order — which aims to exclude all men from women’s sports — Trump also threatened to cut funding to any institution or organisation that fails to comply.
The nuanced debate around trans women in sports
In recent years, there has been ongoing and often intense debate about whether trans women should be fully recognised and treated as women. At the heart of the debate is whether gender should be defined strictly by biological sex or recognised as a broader, lived experience shaped by identity.
This conversation has sparked widespread discussion, from everyday communities to lawmakers. There has been push back through legislation that places real constraints on the rights of trans people. It is a complex and deeply emotional topic that continues to shape cultural and political conversations around gender and identity.
The U.S. law known as the Ted Stevens Act outlines the rights and protections that the Olympic Committee is required to uphold. Historically, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has maintained inclusive and diverse policies, including allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports. However, a newly introduced U.S. policy may further complicate an already sensitive issue.
Read also: Caster Semenya, womanhood and the fight for fairness in women’s sports.
What the ban means for transgender athletes — and what it reveals about fairness and inclusion in women’s sport
Notably, research indicates that transgender women, after completing their transition, do not possess a competitive advantage over the average female athlete. Despite this, the ban reinforces a narrative that questions their legitimacy in women’s sports, often sidelining scientific evidence in favour of political or cultural pressures.
This not only restricts trans athletes and their opportunities to participate but also sets a troubling precedent for how we define inclusion. By targeting a specific group, such policies risk reinforcing harmful gender norms and can undermine broader efforts toward fairness and equality for all women — cisgender and transgender alike.
Though the officials present this ban as a way to protect fairness for women, it unfairly targets transgender athletes based on assumptions rather than evidence. In doing so, it excludes a group of women while claiming to support all women — creating a contradiction at the heart of the policy.
However, if you believe this new policy is a step in the right direction, it’s worth remembering that society has long struggled — and often failed — to truly define a woman. So much so that a woman who is born a woman but does not appear to fit into society’s thin idea of what a woman is faces so much criticism and attacks from the online community, media and people with bigoted perspectives.
This policy doesn’t just target trans women — it reinforces a culture of policing, exclusion, and mistrust that ultimately harms all women, regardless of their gender at birth.
