ANALYSIS: The women’s sports legal battle has just begun

“The war on women’s sports is over,” said President Donald Trump as he signed his Feb. 5 executive order banning biological men from participating in women’s sports in schools and colleges.

But in reality, the legal battle has just begun. 

Blue states are already pushing back and refusing to comply with Trump’s executive action, and collegiate associations like the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are finding language loopholes to allow themselves to evade accountability. 

Maine serves as a striking case study of this resistance. 

President Trump spared no mercy when he personally called out Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) because of her commitment to keep allowing gender ideology to ruin women’s sports--despite his executive order. 

🔥 President Trump calls Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) out to her face over her refusal to comply with the executive order keeping men out of women’s sports:

”You better do it — because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.” pic.twitter.com/uMUZsy1j6t

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 21, 2025

“You better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding,” Trump said in front of a packed room during the fiery exchange at a White House event. 

To Mills’s remark of “I’ll see you in court,” Trump responded: “I’ll see in you court; I look forward to that, that should be a real easy one.” 

Following Trump’s clash with Mills, the Department of Education began investigating the Maine Department of Education and Maine School District for Title IX violations. 

[RELATED: Dept. of Ed urges NCAA to rescind records, awards from men playing in women’s divisions]

This week, a biological male student triumphed over his female competitors at a girls’ pole vault championship in Maine. 

Just last year, John—now identifying as “Katie”—finished fifth in the boys’ pole vault competition.

Despite the executive action in the Oval Office, young girls are still in the clutches of state law. Young girls in Maine had their chance at gold snatched from them by a biological boy - and their female governor supports this. 

The Maine Education Department also issued a statement directing schools to disregard President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order against gender ideology and continue protecting “gender identity and expression” under the Maine Human Rights Act. 

Minnesota, Michigan, and California are also among the list of states prioritizing radical gender ideology over the fairness, safety, and privacy of young girls. 

The Department of Education has launched probes into high school athletic associations, including the Minnesota State High School League, the California Interscholastic Federation, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. 

At the collegiate level, the department has launched investigations into San Jose State University and University of Pennsylvania. 

Schools that don’t comply with Trump’s executive order risk losing federal funding. 

[RELATED: NCAA adjusts trans athlete policy to align with Trump executive order]

Campus Reform reported that the NCAA revised its policies, limiting “competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only,” according to a press release from the organization. 

Key word: competition. 

If you continue reading the policy, you learn that it “permits student-athletes assigned male at birth to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care while practicing.”

In other words, men can still practice with women and invade their safe spaces. 

Another issue: the words “assigned female at birth” carry little weight when more than 40 states allow birth certificates of transgender-identifying individuals to be altered. 

“The policy is as clear as mud,” Riley Gaines, former NCAA swimmer and director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, told Fox News Digital. 

“This policy removes all accountability from the NCAA…it provides loopholes for both states and schools because it does not define sex,” Gaines said. 

As the Left wages its war against women’s sports, it’s clear that blue states and the NCAA do not share the same sentiment as the rest of the country. 

A recent New York Times poll found that 79 percent of Americans agree that men should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. 

America is on board, and the fight for fairness is just beginning.

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Editorials and op-eds reflect the opinion of the authors and not necessarily that of Campus Reform or the Leadership Institute.