This executive order seeks to ban transgender girls from girls' sports teams and locker rooms in the name of protecting girls, but it does just the opposite. These bans harm all girls, including cisgender girls, by subjecting them to increased gender policing and arbitrary and invasive investigations. This order also harms intersex and nonbinary students as it increases surveillance of their bodies. The order directs the Secretary of Education to weaponize Title IX's protections against sex discrimination and bring enforcement actions against schools that allow transgender girls to participate on girls' sports teams or use girls' locker rooms, threatening the loss of federal funding for schools that do not comply. This is despite the fact that many federal courts have held that Title IX protects transgender students, and that the Supreme Court has held that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is a form of sex discrimination in an analogous civil-rights context. The order also directs the Secretary of State to rescind support for and participation in sports programs that allow trans women on women's teams, including the Olympics (which the United States is set to host in Los Angeles in 2028). And, it directs the Secretary of State to promote these discriminatory interests internationally, including at the United Nations.

CDC data shows a correlation in states with trans-inclusive sports participation policies and increased participation by all high school girls. Meanwhile, in states with hostile, trans-exclusive policies, high school girls’ participation either decreased or stayed the same. https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/02/Fair-Play-correction2.pdf