USA Volleyball to comply with Trump transgender sports executive order

USA Volleyball has become the latest governing body to bar transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, this time in direct response to President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at protecting female athletes.

The updated gender eligibility policy says all participants in USA Volleyball (USAV) events must compete based on their sex as listed on their original birth certificate, Fox News reports. 

The policy change, which took effect last week, aligns USAV with recent guidance from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), which told all national governing bodies to comply with the president’s February “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order.

“As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote. “Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women.”

USA Fencing announced a similar policy last week.

“On July 18, 2025, the USOPC released new athlete-safety guidelines that all national governing bodies must follow under a federal executive order issued by the president earlier this year. In response, USA Fencing will implement the updated Transgender & Non Binary Participation Policy that was first published and shared with the fencing community on April 15, 2025. This policy will be effective Aug. 1, 2025, for every sanctioned competition,” a USA Fencing statement said.

Until now, USAV had allowed transgender athletes to compete under certain conditions, such as submitting medical documentation and maintaining testosterone levels below a set threshold for at least a year before competing. The new policy eliminates those exceptions.

More changes are expected from additional sports bodies in the coming weeks as the executive order continues to take effect.

Over 30 states restrict males from competing in women’s sports. Since Trump signed the EO, several states – including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Nebraska – have banned transgender males from competing against women. Additionally, the NCAA, the largest college sports governing body in America, followed suit.

A January 2025 New York Times poll found 79% of Americans oppose male transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports, while only 18% support it.