With Pillen close by, Trump signs order on transgender athletes, reigniting debate

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — It’s official. President Donald Trump has placed a ban on transgender women competing in women’s sports.

Trump signed an executive order Wednesday with hundreds of supporters in sight, including Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen.

Pillen issued a statement on social media saying, “We led in Nebraska by establishing a Women’s Bill of Rights — which affirmed that men are men and women are women — and today I am honored to be at the White House with President Trump as he signs his No Men in Women’s Sports Executive Order into federal law.”

The order will impact all K-12 schools and all U.S. colleges.

It reignites a debate that’s been going on for years.

“There’s no evidence that trans athletes have an advantage over everyone else,” Chris Mosier, a trans athlete, told CNN. “Trans athletes play sports for the same reason everybody else.”

Schools that don’t comply with the order could lose their Title IX funding.

Gregory Brown, a University of Nebraska at Kearney professor who studies exercise science, said this order brings back fairness for women athletes.

“This executive order really aligns with the intent and purpose of Title IX, which was to establish sports for female athletes,” he told Channel 8. “We’ve taken a lot of effort to make sports fair. This really is common sense and supported by science.

The Nebraska School Activities Association, which governs youth sports in Nebraska, said it will comply with any new state or federal law.

Its policy already bases a player’s sex on what’s listed on their birth certificate.

With the order now in effect, Trump has begun putting pressure on the International Olympic Committee to adopt the same standard.