The issue of transgender athletes participating in K-12 sports came to a head in Michigan this week.
On Thursday, Michigan Republicans held a press conference calling on the Michigan High School Athletic Association to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order on transgender athletes in sports.
“The MHSAA must follow President Trump’s lead and prohibit men from competing against our daughters in sports, not only to save federal funding for Michigan schools, but in order to provide a safe environment for girls and young women,” said Sen. Joseph Bellino, R-Monroe, at the press conference.
Bellino also joined other Michigan Republicans in sending letters to the MHSAA this week, calling on the association to “reconsider its position” of “defiance” to the order.
The MHSAA told The Center Square on Thursday it is currently “awaiting clarification,” but does plan to “comply with all applicable laws.”
“We remain awaiting clarification on the potential conflicts between the federal executive order and the state Elliott-Larsen Act,” said Geoff Kimmerly, director of communications for the association. “There is currently a federal lawsuit and bills in Michigan’s legislature that may provide that clarity, and the MHSAA has stated it will comply with all applicable laws.”
Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on sex and other protected categories.
Currently, MHSAA policy requires a waiver for transgender athletes to play on a girls’ sports team. Two athletes competed under that waiver during the fall season.
“Two is too many,” Bellino said during the press conference.
Kimmerly said that no athletes are currently competing under a waiver, and no one “has received a waiver to compete this spring.”
Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order reversed Biden-era policies expanding Title IX to include gender identity and banned transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports at schools and colleges.
The order directs the federal government to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.”
Almost immediately after the order was signed, the NCAA banned male athletes from participating in NCAA-sanctioned competitions.
Supporters of the transgender athletes argue measures like these are discriminatory, stating “bans are both unnecessary and harmful.”
Many state organizations argue it has been left unclear what state or federal laws they are to comply with.
For example, in 2016, the Michigan Department of Education laid out a policy stating that schools should allow transgender athletes to participate in interscholastic sports in accordance with their gender identity.
Yet, it did allow that eligibility for MHSAA-sponsored post-season tournaments be “governed by the MHSAA, subject to state and federal civil rights laws.”
Republicans argue the issue is clear.
“State officials at MHSAA must be confused because President Trump didn’t ask their opinion when he ordered them to protect girls’ sports. He was loud and clear: Michigan is prohibited from allowing biological males to compete against our female athletes,” said state Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan. “MHSAA has a duty to honor that order and take steps to protect the integrity of female athletics.”
While Michigan has not come out in defiance of the order, some other Democrat-controlled states like Maine have stated they will not comply with the guidelines, leading to Trump threatening to cut federal funding to the state.
Republican politicians at both the state and federal levels are looking to pass laws to clarify the issue.
Just this week, Senate Democrats blocked the Republican-backed Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, which would have codified Trump’s executive order.
In Michigan, House Bill 4066 was introduced in February and would amend Michigan’s school code to direct school districts to separate student athletes by biological sex.
Sponsored by State Rep. Jason Woolford, R-Howell, it would also explicitly prohibit “individuals of the male sex” from participating in female sports or competitions, while detailing a path for civil action if the restrictions are broken.
Woolford said that MHSAA’s current policy on the issue is “completely misguided.”
“This radical transgender ideology endangers female athletes by allowing biological males to invade their private spaces, destroy the integrity of the sport and jeopardize physical safety,” he said during the press conference. “This is why I’ve spearheaded the effort in the House to put an end to this ideology.”
