(Photo courtesy: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch, Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports) “Amber Glenn takes a victory lap around the rink following the championship women medal ceremony during the 2024 US Figure Skating Championships at Nationwide Arena.”
Olivia K
Connector Contributor
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) – and as of late October, its member U.S. Figure Skating (USFS) – has limited participation in the female category to athletes assigned female at birth. The USOPC incorporated this policy in July due to a federal obligation to comply with President Trump’s executive order titled, “Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports”.
Signed on February 5th of this year, the executive order strictly forbids federally chartered sports organizations from allowing individuals assigned male at birth to compete in the female category of their respective sport. The order states that organizations that fail to comply with its policies will have federal funding withheld. The Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act established the USCOPC as a federally chartered non-profit, leaving it subject to federal orders.
Trump’s order also states that its policy will be advocated for at the United Nations, showing an intention for global adoption. The order specifically mentions the Olympic Committee, stating “The Secretary of State shall use all appropriate and available measures to see that the International Olympic Committee amends the standards governing Olympic sporting events to promote fairness, safety, and the best interests of female athletes by ensuring that eligibility for participation in women’s sporting events is determined according to sex and not gender identity or testosterone reduction.”
The USOPC spent months deliberating the order’s implications before changing its policies to meet the administration’s requirements. Following this, its member organization USFS took time to review and finalize its own policy changes to meet the USOPC’s policies. One of these policies requires the presentation of an original birth certificate identifying female sex. This new category policy marks a departure from the USFS’s 2016 Gender Policy. This policy allowed transgender women to compete in female sports, provided they met identity and hormone requirements. This is similar to UMass Lowell’s previously established policies regarding participation of transgender students in NCAA sports.
The USFS has generally been outspoken in its support for the LGBTQ+ community and DEI policies. The organization put out an official statement regarding its recent policy changes, insisting, “At U.S. Figure Skating, we have long embraced a spirit of inclusion…That commitment remains at the heart of everything we do, particularly as we navigate changes in policy to ensure that our sport continues to be welcoming and fair for all and ensuring U.S. Figure Skating continues to be one of the most inclusive sports.”
Some critics question whether the USFS or USOPC is to blame, or if the Trump administration’s policy is unavoidable for federally chartered organizations altogether. Generally, dissenters agree that the policy promotes discrimination and undermines the sense of belonging cultivated in competitive sports.
Figure skating fosters a strong community here at UMass Lowell with the Ice Hawks, a performance-based skating club. When asked about the impact that the team has had on her, Ice Hawks member Amanda Montminy said, “It’s taught me a lot of perseverance, and it’s a very supportive environment. Everyone on the team is very welcoming, and it’s open to beginner and advanced skaters, which makes it a very inclusive club sport.”
