The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) is “awaiting further guidance” following President Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Geoff Kimmerly, the director of communications for MHSAA, cited “potential conflicts between Wednesday’s executive order and Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act,” which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity.
“When there is a conflict between state law and federal law, the federal law is supreme, as stated in the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. However, the federal law must be pursuant to a valid grant of authority under the Constitution,” University of Michigan law professor Julian Davis Mortenson said.
The NCAA has updated its policy to comply with the executive order, applying it to all student-athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews under the NCAA’s prior transgender participation policy, according to an NCAA statement.
Trump has signed multiple executive orders involving the transgender community.
“We don’t find any of these unilateral actions by the president to be legal. I’m sure this will be challenged in court, like many other executive orders,” said Emme Zanotti, director of advocacy and civil engagement at Equality Michigan.
Under MHSAA’s current policy, transgender girls must request a waiver to participate. Transgender boys do not.
For the 2024-2025 school year, MHSAA granted only two waivers for transgender girls, according to Kimmerly. There are more than 170,000 student-athletes competing at member schools, he said.
“This is more political posturing than an actual issue or problem. Look at the actual statistics,” said Jay Kaplan, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ Project.
The debate over transgender athletes participating in women’s sports is also unfolding in Lansing at the state Capitol.
House Bill 4031, known as the Female Athletics Integrity of Records (FAIR) Act, would require awards, rankings, and records of sporting events to be categorized according to each competitor’s biological sex. This bill applies to any publicly funded events with separate female and male competitions.
House Bill 4031 was referred to the House Education and Workforce Committee for consideration.
Republican State Rep. Jaime Greene, who represents portions of eastern Lapeer, western St. Clair, and northern Macomb counties, reintroduced the bill on January 28.
Greene stated in a press release, “Women fought hard for decades to establish Title IX protections and secure equal opportunities in sports. Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports undermines these protections and disadvantages female athletes who deserve a level playing field.”
Local 4 was unable to reach Greene for comment on Trump’s action on the issue.