The Trump admin claims it wants to protect girls in sports. Then it does this.

[Jessica_Rose]

The Trump admin claims it wants to protect girls in sports. Then it does this.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-trump-admin-claims-it-wants-to-protect-girls-in-sports-then-it-does-this/ar-AA1z5jcu?ocid=windirect&cvid=cf7b50c1c8ef4d0ba90d1f779a7c21b3&ei=32

Opinion by Jason Page (14 Feb 2025)

President Donald Trump's whirlwind first few weeks have included a series of orders targeting transgender people, which the administration alleges are designed to protect women and girls. On Feb. 5, Trump signed an executive order banning trans women and girls from competing in female sports. The NCAA quickly moved to change its policy in compliance, instituting a new rule affirming the executive order.

Then on Wednesday, a new mandate came down from Trump's Education Department. This one says that Title IX will not apply to name, image and likeness deals. The directive winds back guidance from then-President Joe Biden's administration, which stated that schools must equitably distribute image and likeness (NIL) payments between male and female athletes.

Under the guise of a word salad that included phrases such as "financial aid" and "gender equity," Craig Trainor, Trump's acting assistant secretary for civil rights, argued that the Biden White House had no authority to force schools to split NIL funds this way.

While the decision from the Education Department has no teeth, the symbolism is hard to miss. The guidance states that women's sports are important — but not important enough that they deserve equal funding. Women's athletic opportunities are important, the administration claims — but not necessarily as important as the opportunities afforded to men.