CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia High School League (VHSL) announced Monday that it will comply with the Trump executive order that limits participation in girls' sports to students who were assigned female at birth.
The decision is effective immediately, per a release shared by the organization, which oversees athletic competitions between public schools across the Commonwealth. VHSL's previous policy allowed transgender athletes to participate on teams other than the gender identity listed on their birth certificate or school records after meeting a certain set of approvals and conditions.
The change comes after a call from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin on social media to push the governing body to follow the executive order on Friday.
"Biological boys should not be competing against girls," Youngkin wrote on Facebook. "This is just common sense. The Virginia High School League must change course immediately just like the NCAA. Virginia schools are at risk of losing millions of dollars in federal school funding if the VHSL doesn’t comply with President Trump’s Executive Order protecting girls sports."
The NCAA announced last Wednesday, Feb. 5, that it would comply with the executive order.
According to VHSL data, since 2022 there have been 29 total appeals for students to participate on teams other than their gender assigned at birth. Of those appeals, 20 were transgender boys and 9 were transgender girls. Nearly 174,000 Virginia students participate in athletic activities under VHSL, according to the organization's website.
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