President Donald Trump’s Feb. 5, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” executive order bans male-to-female transgender athletes from participating on sports teams that align with their gender. Following the order, the MSHSL released a statement allowing trans athletes to participate in sports that match their gender identity aligning with Minnesota state law.

Trump’s order claims to rescind funding from programs that prevent women and girls from having the same athletic opportunities as men and boys. Under Title IX, federal-funded educational institutes can’t deny women an equal opportunity to participate in sports– Congress views that ignoring the “fundamental biological truths of the two sexes deprives women and girls of meaningful access to educational facilities” (Tennessee v. Cardona, 24-cv-00072 at 73 (E.D. Ky. 2024)). Hence, following the MSHSL’s statement, on Feb.12, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced that it would conduct a federal investigation on the MSHSL.

Rowan* currently competes for SPA’s fencing team in the Women’s Sabre division. As a transgender athlete, Rowan feels isolated amongst their peers: “Before I knew about fencing and after I transitioned, I had resigned myself to not participating in any high school sports,” they said.

Rowan is nonbinary, meaning their gender does not fit into the two categories in high school sports, female or male.

“It does make me sad that I missed out on team sports in high school, but I’ve found community in other wonderful places,” Rowan said.

However, despite this adversity, Rowan has found solace in fencing, as in the sport, athletes compete individually.

“It didn’t really matter if I was competing for the women’s team or the men’s as we practice as a full, co-ed team and aren’t divided by gender until tournaments,” they said.

Sophomore Maggie Sampsell-Jones thinks that all high schoolers should be able to participate in sports.

“I feel like the current policy works because, at the high school level, the intensity and expectations for sports are lower than something like professional or college, and everyone should be able to participate,” she said.

She also added that the MSHSL’s current policy has not impacted the teams she’s played on.

Rowan also provided insight into the role of transgender athletes in sports: “The biggest misconception that anyone can have is that trans people are predatory and are only competing in sports to steal opportunities from ‘real’ women,” they said.

Following President Trump’s executive order and the NCAA limiting participation in women’s sports to people assigned female at birth, Rowan wants to emphasize how trans athletes do not participate in sports to steal opportunities from others.

“We work just as hard as anyone else to succeed in our sports. We want to enjoy participating in our sports. And I know that people love to bring up the physical advantages, but everyone has a different body with different benefits that come from that body,” they said.

Sampsell-Jones wants athletics administrators and coaches to be fully transparent with these policies and how they will impact teams and games.

“These conversations should be handled by being direct about all potential outcomes and that the main purpose of high school sports should be kept in mind, which I feel like is fun competition and everyone being able to play,” she said.

Rowan urges people to become educated.

“Positive change cannot be made if people are not properly educated and understand that trans people are not an enemy […] I highly encourage people to do their research, not just on statistics on trans people in sports, but on their experiences and their feelings on the anti-trans policies in the US,” Rowan said.

Overall, Rowan and Sampsell-Jones emphasize the importance of maintaining inclusivity in high school sports. As for the MSHSL, athletic associations have up to 60 days to begin following the executive order. Although the implications of the federal investigation remain unclear, according to the Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, the MSHSL has stated that, for now, it is upholding its existing bylaw allowing transgender participation while seeking further guidance from the state.

*The Rubicon has opted to use first name only to minimize the potential harm to our source.

This story was originally published on The Rubicon on March 10, 2025.