On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump returned to office after winning the 2024 election this past November. After an overwhelming win of 312 to 226 electoral votes against his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump swore in as the 47th U.S. President alongside his new administration.
“After all we have been through together, we stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history,” Trump said in a public appearance the night before the election. “You watch, it’s going to be so good, it’s going to be so much fun. It’ll be nasty a little bit at times, and maybe at the beginning, in particular, but it’s going to be something.”
Upon announcing his goals for his second non-consecutive term in office, President Trump has promised to end the Affordable Care Act, known as ObamaCare, and begin mass deportations of illegal immigrants across America. In the K-12 school system, he plans to adopt merit pay for teachers and scrap diversity programs at all levels of education. And amongst all these goals, his most controversial is his promise to end “boys in girls sports.”
Trump’s plans to end trangender individuals’ participation in female sports generally affects high school, college, and professional athletes around the United States. This has elicited mixed feelings from all different parties, no matter what political stance you take.
A lot of Americans wish this subject would stay out of the hands of the political eye for many reasons.
“I don’t think it should be banned altogether by any governmental agency. In my opinion, that decision is best made by the individual sports associations and their heads,” said senior Madelyn Loghmani.
Alongside President Trump’s efforts, the organization ICON, or The Independent Council on Women’s Sport, works towards promoting and protecting women’s sports on and off the field. ICON believes women should thrive and succeed in sports without facing sex-based discrimination, and that they deserve respect and fair competition equal to that of male athletes.
Sports, in general, can be mentally and physically draining for all athletes, whether they compete in high school, college, or professionally.
“Being an athlete is more than just throwing a ball or points on a scoreboard for a team. It’s day in and day out conditioning of the mind and body for competition against others who push you to be better,” said Jaelyn Martinez, a former Southern Lehigh athlete and current track and field thrower at IUP. “It takes a toll on you, so adding an unfair advantage player into the mix could potentially lead to many athletes not being well for competition because it could trigger stress, unhealthy habits, and even lousy sleep and time schedules for themselves, work or school.”
In high school, many question the fairness of transgender athletes competing in sports based on physical and anatomical advantages alone, which often induces stress for the athletes they compete against.
“The differences in muscular progression between the two lead to an unfair advantage in competition, which would go against the definition of sports for the genders,” said Martinez.
Opposing this viewpoint, some high school students claim that certain team sports like football, basketball, and volleyball should justify having transgender athletes able to compete on their team, as these team-driven sports rely on the abilities of everyone, and not just one individual. But when it comes to individual sports such as swimming, cross country, and track and field, many believe the physical advantages of transgender athletes in female races prove to be unfair to all those competing.
“I say this because in almost all cases, students do not have access to gender-affirming care or hormonal treatments that could adjust their biological capabilities and so it would be most fair to compete and play in the sports team of their gender assigned at birth,” said Loghmani.
As people age and become more independent, they gain greater access to gender-affirming care or hormonal treatments to work towards a gender transition. However, at the high school level, not every individual has had the opportunity and autonomy to fully transition yet, complicating the situation for those who want to participate in female sports. Therefore, this topic remains sensitive—especially in a high school setting—and difficult to navigate in a way that will be suitable for everyone.
“As a women athlete who plays an individual sport it would be very unfair and difficult if I went up against a transgender athlete,” said an anonymous Southern Lehigh student. “All women work hard for the opportunities we get, and I don’t want that taken away from us.”
