(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump’s inaugural address included an announcement that the U.S. federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female.
The statement is welcome news for the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) and the group’s efforts to reverse changes made by former President Joe Biden to Title IX, which have allowed boys and young men who identify as girls and women to compete in women’s sports.
The gender clarity position taken by the Trump administration comes just days after a U.S. District Court in Kentucky vacated the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX regulations. The decision potentially marks the conclusion of national litigation and a patchwork of injunctions preventing their implementation across many states.
“It feels like we’ve been living in an upside-down world for the past four years, and I’m ready to go back to a reality where common sense is more common,” said Adriana McLamb, a spokesperson for IWF in a phone interview with The Center Square. “Yes, we’re hopeful based on statements from the Trump administration that on day one a girl is a girl, and a boy is a boy.”
Transgender rights have become an extremely contentious issue during the Biden administration, with many Republicans campaigning on reversing transgender laws and protecting women in sports.
“Whether it’s through executive order or something else, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is going to have to do something, so we’re so encouraged about the new administration,” McLamb said.
Last week, IWF held demonstrations outside the 2025 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, “calling for an end to the NCAA’s controversial, anti-woman Transgender Student-Athlete Participation Policy and new rules that prohibit male athletes from the women’s game. These demands supporters say will finally return fairness and integrity to women’s collegiate sports,” according to an IWF statement emailed to The Center Square.
The NCAA has yet to make any direct policy changes, but officials have stated those policies are under review, and pressure intensified Monday with Trump’s statements.
Groups including the American Medical Association have stated gender is on a spectrum.
“Our AMA supports policies that include an undesignated or nonbinary gender option for government records and forms of government-issued identification, which would be in addition to “male” and “female,” stated the AMA in a policy research paper.
Following President Trump’s speech Monday, IWF issued a letter congratulating the President, stating IWF is looking ahead to a positive working relationship with his administration. The letter lays out a series of policy concepts for President Trump to consider including a focus on gender clarity.
“Unfortunately, the movement today to erase sex differences and equate ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ synonyms threatens to strip away important protections and programs for women and girls and open the door to unintended harms and inequities,” the letter said. “We oppose all efforts to erase legal distinctions between males and females.”
“Even with President Trump coming into office, we’re not letting up until we make sure XX does not equal XY, boys are boys and girls are girls and women only spaces are for women,” said McLamb.
Another executive order announced by Trump on day one targets programs across the government that promote DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — in hiring practices and other programs.
