Philadelphia schools defying Trump’s order, plan to continue letting males in girls’ sports

February 28, 2025

The School District of Philadelphia is vowing to continue allowing males to compete in women’s sports in defiance of President Trump’s executive order keeping men out of women’s sports.

The Christian Post reports that the district has indicated it will continue to uphold Board Policy 252 which was passed in 2016 and allows “gender-nonconforming” students to participate in intramural sports “in a manner consistent with their gender identity.” 

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association board, the state’s governing body for high school and middle school athletics, changed its policies last week to comply with the president’s directive.

A spokesperson for the district told the Christian Post, “The School District of Philadelphia strives to ensure safety, equity and justice for all students regardless of gender identity or gender expression so that they can imagine and realize any future they desire. The District will continue to align its practices to support its LGBTQ+ students in accordance with Board Policy 252 for transgender and gender non-conforming students.”

The president’s executive order denounced the practice of allowing men to compete in women’s sports as “demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls.”

The order directed executive agencies to take “all appropriate action to protect all-female athletic opportunities” and promised to withhold federal funding from educational institutions that deprive female athletes fair opportunities.

According to the Christian Post, a Maine school district is also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for refusing to comply with Trump’s order.

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