The Trump Administration changes to the Department of Education will profoundly affect high school athletics, particularly transgender athletes and those who face them in sporting events. The President campaigned on the issue and has wasted no time reversing federal policy. Few issues motivated his supporters with the passion of parents whose daughters’ faced sports games with male-born opponents.
The Biden Administration had altered Title IX regulations to require schools to allow trans athletes to compete on teams of their new gender.
President Trump issued an executive order banning schools receiving federal funds from allowing trans athletes to compete in sports except on teams of the gender for which they were born. While his position is quite popular with the majority of Americans, for the families of trans children, the loss of support — indeed the hostility from the Federal Government — has been devastating.
California and Minnesota high school athletic organizations chose to buck the new federal directives, and now they will be investigated by the US Department of Education.
It seemed intrusive to many when the Biden Education Department expanded Title IX rulemaking to mandate acceptance of trans athletes in all states.
Now it seems intrusive to many others that the Trump Education Department is banning the conduct that less than two months ago it mandated. In other words, rather than simply reversing the Biden policy, Trump has kept the Federal Government in control of what had seemed to many like a local or state issue. The direction of the control has simply changed.
To those who have not focused on the issue — what is telling is the speed at which Federal regulators are moving to punish behavior the same regulators previously required.
I expect similar speed in challenging affirmative action and DEI in all organizations, public and private, by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Justice as well as the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Regarding the trans community, new regulations are already dramatically reducing options for health care.
David Nacht is a Harvard‑ and University of Michigan‑educated trial lawyer and the founder and principal of his firm, known for representing individuals at every stage of their careers—from students and employees to executives—when their reputation, rights, and livelihood are on the line. Licensed in Michigan, Ohio, and Massachusetts, he is among the rare attorneys who regularly practices both civil and criminal law in federal and state courts, using insights from each arena to gain strategic advantages for his clients. Nacht has achieved landmark victories in employment law, university and Title IX proceedings, civil rights litigation, criminal defense, and high‑stakes business disputes, including precedent‑setting appellate wins and multimillion‑dollar settlements and negotiations. Widely recognized as a leader in defending the accused and advocating for due process, he combines meticulous preparation, forward‑thinking strategy, and a client‑first philosophy focused on dignity, clarity, and results.