WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, R-Ala., applauded President Donald Trump as they sat inside the East Room of the White House for the executive order signing that bars transgender athletes from competing in girls and women’s sports.
The executive order called “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” will require schools to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports and if schools don’t abide they could lose federal funding.
Trump gave a shout out to Tuberville and Britt for their work on the issue ahead of the Wednesday signing, calling Tuberville a “great coach.”
“Every young woman in Alabama and across the country deserves to have the full benefits of fair athletic competition,” Tuberville said to reporters.
Britt said in a statement that Trump “restored longstanding, commonsense protections to ensure daughters across America, like my own, can continue to unlock their potential.”
Tuberville has made banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports a central focus.
He introduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act which would prohibit schools that receive federal funding from allowing males to participate in girls or women sports. Britt is a cosponsor. The bill would ensure the ban would be permanent as an executive order can be reversed with a new president.
Tuberville’s legislation is not currently scheduled for a floor vote, but he said he is hopeful Senate Majority Leader John Thune will bring it up soon.
Tuberville also introduced the Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in any women’s Olympic athletic events.
Despite the GOP’s focus on the issue, the NCAA president said in a hearing in December that out of its 510,000 athletes, less than 10 were transgender.
The NCAA announced Thursday it was changing its transgender student athlete participation policy to align with the new executive order. The NCAA’s new policy “limits competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.”
Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, said he was very supportive of the executive order.
“I was happy to see that he signed it and I think my constituents are very happy about it,” Aderholt told Alabama Daily News.
The House passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act last month with all Republicans and two House Democrats voting for it. Reps. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, and Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, voted against it.
Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Birmingham, said the signing was a great way to commemorate National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
“The preservation of women’s sports should not be controversial, and I will continue to defend women’s sports in Congress,” Palmer said in a statement.
Trump has signed a slew of executive orders targeting transgender people since returning to office.
The LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD criticized the new order in a written statement.
“All women and girls, including transgender women and girls, should be welcome to play sports if they want, make decisions about their own bodies, be hired for jobs they are qualified for, and be free from lawless attacks by elected officials,” the organization said.