Donald Trump takes clear stance on transgender athlete participation in women's sports in RNC speech

Former President Donald Trump formally accepted the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday night, the final night of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. During his more than 90-minute speech, Trump addressed several policy issues, including a hot-button topic for many Americans. 

"We will not have men playing in women’s sports, that will end immediately," Trump said, drawing a loud round of applause from the crowd. 

Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends the Republican National Convention (RNC) after surviving an attempted assassination at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States on July 18, 2024. During a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, a lone 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Trump during the campaign rally, striking him in his right ear and critically injuring two rally goers and killing a third.  (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The topic of a ban on transgender athletes participating in women’s and girl’s sports has been one of the more hotly debated issues in American politics over the years. 

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In April, the Biden administration made major changes to Title IX in the unveiling of new rules aimed at safeguarding LGBTQ+ students and changing the ways in which sexual harassment and assault claims are adjudicated on campus. 

But noticeably missing from those changes was any policy that would prevent schools from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes competing against women. 

As it stands, at least 24 states have laws barring transgender women and girls from competing in certain women’s or girls sports competitions.

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines react after finishing tied for 5th in the 200 Freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 18th, 2022 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Nassau County, New York, Executive Bruce Blakeman was the latest to enact a county law that would ban biological males from competing in women’s sporting events at county-run parks and facilities – a law that was immediately met with a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Former NCAA Division 1 swimmer Riley Gaines spoke to Fox News Digital outside the RNC this week to condemn the actions taken by Democrats with regard to safeguarding women’s sports. 

"The Democratic Party is the farthest thing from being the party of or for women. They can't even define what a woman is," she said. "So how in the world can you claim to defend what you can't define? Why I'm here is to merely share the simple message that men and women are different, but it's really broader than just the sports angle." 

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines speaks at an event. (Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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According to the Associated Press, Trump has vowed to keep transgender athletes out of women’s sports, adding that if elected, he would ask Congress to pass a bill establishing that there are "only two genders" as determined by birth. 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace, Michael Dorgan, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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