Shannon Grady, a world class triathlete, sports scientist, and Delco native, advocated keeping boys and men out of girls and women’s sports long before it was the mainstream view. She appeared on a local TV program in 2021 and explained that Biden’s executive order was in direct conflict with Title IX.

“Anytime a male takes the place of a female, you are eliminating opportunities for a female, but in essence, you are actually changing the dynamics of the entire team and the teams you play against.”

Grady, a physiologist and the author of The Lactate Revolution, said there is a trickle-down effect on allowing boys in girls sports. “Both the team with the boy and the team playing against that team are adversely impacted.”

In the 2021 interview, she said, “men can run ten to 15 percent faster, jump fifteen to twenty percent higher, and lift 50 to 60 percent more than women.”

Grady continued to call out the Biden order as unconstitutional and unfair to women and girls. Her efforts paid off this week when she was invited to the White House by President Donald Trump to attend the signing of the “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports” executive order.

She traveled to Washington D.C. with her husband and sons to participate in the monumental event, and said, “we have come full circle.”

Grady described President Trump as engaging and entertaining, and appreciated his statements, “this is all about common sense,” and “it should have been done long ago.”

During the signing ceremony, the President made the consequences very clear for schools that do not comply.

“With my action this afternoon, we are putting every school receiving taxpayer dollars on notice that if you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding,” he said. “So this will effectively end the attack on female athletes at public K-12 schools and virtually all U.S. colleges and universities.”

Grady is thrilled with the order and potential consequences for schools that do not comply. She has witnessed first hand the detrimental effects of the prior president’s orders and looks forward to righting the ship. She currently lives in Chester County and serves at the Chair for the local Moms for Liberty chapter.

“It will be interesting to see what actions the Chester County school boards make regarding this executive action given their recent history of admitting abiding to federal guidelines especially when it comes to Title IX and risks of losing federal funding. For example, most school boards in Chester County continued mask mandates absent any emergency declaration in Pennsylvania because they claimed they were at risk of losing federal funding if they did not follow the federal guidelines on masking,” said Grady.

“Additionally, last summer, the Biden administration made proposed rule changes that were not actually changed by Congress to Title IX to include gender-based policies in our schools. Chester County schools wasted no time in following the Biden administration’s proposed changes into their school policies, again, citing the risk of losing federal funds as their basis for such quick policy changes. Ironically enough, the Biden Title IX rule changes were blocked by federal courts for their unconstitutional conditions, yet, our schools still kept their gender-based policies in place.” 

“It will be extremely interesting to see if our local school boards follow the same rationale to change their gender-based policies given Trump’s new executive order or decide that now it is okay to risk losing federal funding to keep their woke agendas alive in Chester County schools,” Grady concluded.

The question of compliance with the new order in Pennsylvania schools remains open due to regulations enacted in 2023 by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. When the executive order regarding two sexes was issued, the state agency doubled down to disregard the new policy.

“Regardless of what happens federally, protections on the basis of sex assigned at birth, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics exist in Pennsylvania. In 2023, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission released new regulations more clearly explaining the definition of sex,” said spokesperson Amanda Brothman.

However, it appears that female college students in Pennsylvania and the rest of the country will be protected under newly announced NCAA policies the day after the President signed the executive order.

“Today, the NCAA announced the Board of Governors voted to update the Association’s participation policy for transgender student-athletes following the Trump administration’s executive order. The new policy limits competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.”

Paula Scanlan, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer and teammate of Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete, also celebrated the new executive order and issued a statement.

“I am so excited for this Executive Order that will help protect girls and women’s sports. It shows great leadership from President Trump and will help prevent what happened to me at the University of Pennsylvania from happening to more girls.”

Independent Women, an organization that has led the charge to keep boys and men out of girls and women’s sports and spaces issued a press release celebrating the executive order.

“Today, Independent Women, a nonprofit organization committed not only to moving the needle with women, but to making a difference on the issues that will move America, applauds President Donald Trump’s Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports Executive Order that protects equal athletic opportunity for both sexes and prohibits men from participating in athletic programs that are designated for women.”

Beth Ann Rosica resides in West Chester, has a Ph.D. in Education, and has dedicated her career to advocating on behalf of at-risk children and families. She covers education issues for Broad + Liberty. Contact her at barosica@broadandliberty.com.