A US state has chosen to disregard Donald Trump’s executive order which prohibits transgender athletes from participating in female sports.
After returning to office in January, Trump enacted a series of executive orders, with one of the most contentious focusing on transgender individuals.
The order bans transgender people from serving in the military and mandates that transgender women are not housed in female prisons.
Moreover, a third executive order targeting transgender individuals, signed on February 5, prohibits transgender women from competing in female sports.
According to the ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ order, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) might have to ‘change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject’ before the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
The order also empowers the Secretary of State’s Office to urge the IOC to modify standards ‘to promote fairness, safety and the best interests of female athletes by ensuring that eligibility for participation in women’s sporting events is determined according to sex and not gender identity or testosterone reduction’.
Though there is still time to see if this will be implemented, the order also seeks ‘immediate reinforcement’ against schools and athletic associations that deny women single-sex sports and changing rooms, as reported by Sky News.
In opposition to the order, the Illinois High School Association has taken a stand, making Illinois the latest blue state to resist compliance.
In a public letter to the state’s Republican lawmakers, the IHSA President indicated that following Trump’s directive might contravene the Illinois Human Rights Act.
Dan Tully mentioned: “The Illinois Human Rights Act requires that transgender athletes be permitted to participate in events and programs aligning with the gender they identify.”
The letter noted that the association has consulted with state Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Illinois Department of Human Rights, seeking clear guidelines to avoid breaching the different policies.
Tully’s letter further stated that the IHSA ‘simply desires to comply with the law and takes no position as to which of the foregoing is correct or whether there can be alignment between claimed federal and state law.’
Republicans have expressed displeasure, with representative Blaine Wilhour suggesting that state funding should be withdrawn until compliance is achieved.
There are 809 schools in Illinois that are part of the association, none of which receive state or federal funding.
He told Fox News: “Either you believe in fair competition or you don’t. The Democrat Party today… does not believe in fair competition. They put their woke ideology over protecting girls in sports.
“[The Trump administration is] going to have to engage here, and the leverage that they’ve got is federal funding.
“We take millions in federal funding from the government every year. And we don’t really savor the situation where that would be withheld. But I’ll take my chances with doing the right thing.”