How NJ athletics will implement Trump transgender order

☑️ President Trump signed executive order 'Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports'

☑️ The NCAA has already changed its transgender policy

☑️ New Jersey could challenge the order as unconstitutional

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that immediately bans transgender athletes from participating in girls and women’s sports but the impact on New Jersey athletes is not yet clear.

The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” gives federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the order “upholds the promise of Title IX” and will require “immediate action, including enforcement actions, against schools and athletic associations” that deny women single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms.

The NCAA Board of Governors moved quickly, amending its transgender participation policy to limit competition in women's sports to athletes assigned female at birth. NCAA President Charlie Baker, who said last year he was aware of fewer than 10 active NCAA athletes who identified as transgender, noted the order at least provides a uniform policy instead of a patchwork of state laws.

The NJSIAA said its current transgender policy aligns with prior federal guidelines and current state law and will “closely monitor updates” on the potential impact of Trump’s order.

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Is Trump order constitutional?

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, who has taken several legal actions against Trump executive orders, has not yet commented on the transgender order.

"The Murphy Administration is reviewing the education-related EOs issued by the Trump Administration and their potential impact on New Jersey. The OAG will continue to work with its fellow state agencies to sustain and expand supports for New Jersey students and educators," spokesman Michael Zhadanovsky told New Jersey 101.5.

Until now, New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination has protected transgender athletes. It prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all public and non-religious private New Jersey schools.

"During gender-separated classes or athletic activities, all students must be allowed to participate in a manner consistent with their gender identity," according to the law.

Under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, federal law and a presidential order take precedence over state law. But a claim of discrimination and a violation of civil rights for a protected class, in this case gender, could be the way for New Jersey and other states to challenge the order.

New Jersey was at the center of one firestorm over transgender athletes when Ramapo College swimmer Meghan Cortez-Field broke a women's school team record during a weekend invitational in Pennsylvania in 2023 in her fourth year as a competitive swimmer.

During her first three years, the college senior and Texas native competed with the men’s team, despite already beginning her physical transition.

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