Conservative Women’s Groups Urge Senate to Act as Trump Signs Order Protecting Women’s Sports

Two conservative women’s groups urged the Senate to enact into law protections for women’s sports as President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring men from women’s sports Wednesday.

“The war on women’s sports is over. Should have been done long ago,” Trump told a room packed with female athletes, government officials, and supporters. 

The order, titled “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports,” directs federal agencies to ensure entities that receive federal funding interpret federal Title IX law according to biological sex, not the sex someone chooses to “identify” as.

Representatives from the Independent Women’s Forum and Concerned Women for America attended the executive order signing and called on the Senate to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025. Earlier in the day, members of Concerned Women for America donned blue “Save Women’s Sports” pins and lined the hallways outside a congressional briefing by the National Collegiate Athletic Association that celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day. 

Among those present at the signing was House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., a major advocate for protecting women’s sports who supported the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act in the House of Representatives.

“It was an honor to join President Trump at the White House on this National Girls and Women in Sports Day as we reaffirmed a fundamental fact: Women’s sports are for biological women only,” Emmer told The Daily Signal. “While the Democrats continue to cave to leftist lunacy that has overtaken their party, Republicans will ensure female athletes get the fair playing field they deserve.” 

The executive order was a victory for the movement to protect women’s sports, according to Independent Women’s Forum ambassador and college athlete Sia Liilii.

“We’re very thankful to President Trump for following up on his word and being a man of his word,” Liilii told The Daily Signal. “This has been a long time coming. This whole issue is common sense: A man is a man, and a woman is a woman.”

The co-captain of the University of Nevada-Reno women’s volleyball team received pushback from her university and the NCAA when she forfeited the team’s match against San Jose State University after San Jose allowed a male on its women’s team.

“We were told that we weren’t educated enough on the topic [of ‘transgender’ men playing in women’s sports], and we needed to reconsider our position,” Liilii said.

The senior from Halawa, Hawaii, then called out former Gov. Charlie Baker, the president of the NCAA, for failing to stand up for women’s sports during a Senate hearing in December.

“I hope that [the NCAA] change[s] their policy to stop discriminating against women and put the woman first instead of a man’s feelings,” Liilii said.

Liilii also urged the Senate to act on legislation protecting women’s sports.

“They need to step up and protect women and girls in sports,” Liilii said. “We deserve fair competition and the opportunity to champion our own sports. And the only way that happens is if they step up and vote to protect us.”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is urging his fellow senators to lock in the protections established by the executive order, which can be overturned by another president, by voting to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025. The bill states that, for the purposes of compliance with Title IX, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth. It would ban federal funding for any institution that allows so-called transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.  

“Congress needs to act on this to make sure the next Democrat administration—whenever it is—can’t take the same steps to destroy Title IX that the Biden administration took,” Tuberville said during floor proceedings Wednesday.

After clearing the House on a bipartisan vote on Jan. 14, the bill has yet to go before the Senate for a vote.

In his remarks from the Senate floor, Tuberville shared stories from his collegiate coaching career of the benefits of Title IX, which provides scholarships and equal opportunities for female athletes to compete at the collegiate level. Tuberville also cited a poll from The New York Times in his remarks that found that 79% of Americans say men don’t belong in women’s sports.  

“This isn’t about politics,” Tuberville said. “This is about right and wrong. The American people have delivered a verdict. They want men out of women’s sports and women’s locker rooms.”

The senator encouraged his fellow congressmen to stand up for women, beginning with the Protection of Women in Amateur and Olympic Sports Act, which would block transgender athletes from participating in women’s competitions at the Olympic level.

“Somebody is going to get killed or seriously injured if we don’t stop this nonsense,” Tuberville said, citing the inclusion of men in women’s boxing in the Summer Olympics. “It’s unsafe, it’s unfair, and it’s just plain wrong.”

Tuberville urged his fellow senators to bring the act to the floor for a vote within the first 100 days of the Trump administration. 

In anticipation of the day’s executive and legislative actions, Concerned Women for America gathered outside the NCAA’s congressional briefing at the Senate’s Dirksen office building Wednesday morning to urge the Senate and the NCAA to stand up for women in sports. 

“Few have done more than the NCAA to replace female records, scholarships, and opportunities with men,” said Macy Petty, legislative strategist for Concerned Women for America. “Everyone knows this is wrong, and their game of smoke and mirrors must come to an end. That’s why we’re here. We’re willing to call out the elephant in the room and demand answers. Why won’t you protect female athletes?” 

The NCAA did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment by press time. But Fox News reported the vice president of NCAA’s Eligibility Center, Felicia Martin, suggested at the congressional briefing that the NCAA is already discussing policy changes for when the executive order goes into effect.

According to an advertisement for the event, the NCAA’s briefing included a discussion of the importance of sports in empowering women and girls and the role Congress can play in helping to safeguard and further those opportunities.

Faith Ozenbaugh, the national director of Young Women for America, spoke with The Daily Signal outside the NCAA briefing. She urged the Senate to follow the lead of the executive branch and the House. 

“We encourage every senator to stand strongly with female athletes,” Ozenbaugh said. “We have Young Women for America leaders around the country who are engaging with their senators, encouraging them to vote rightly on this legislation. The House rightly passed this bill, and we encourage the Senate to bring it up for a vote and to vote to protect female athletes.” 

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