Author’s note: due to the sensitive nature of this topic, the names of student athletes regardless of age are intentionally omitted to respect privacy.

Last week, the agency responsible for regulating sports in Pennsylvania public schools announced their compliance with President Trump’s recent executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” It’s questionable, however, whether the wishy-washy language in the new regulations is strong enough to actually prevent boys from competing against girls in secondary sports.

This issue has become highly volatile over the last year even though the vast majority of Americans do not support it. Agencies are now scrambling to figure out how to comply with the executive orders related to biological sex, and in doing so appear to be trying to appease both sides of the argument.

Such is the case with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), the governing body for all secondary sports in the state. At a Board of Directors meeting on February 19, 2025, the organization made changes to its regulations regarding boys’ participation in girls’ sports. Shown below, the regulations eliminate the use of the term “gender,” and now only refer to “sex.” However, there is still a clause allowing the school to determine a student’s sex if there is any question or uncertainty.

The language is a problem because it does not actually protect girls or boys. As long as there is any scenario where a biological boy can compete against a girl, there are going to be problems. While the issues are largely obvious for girls — they are not as physically strong or fast as boys and lose competition and scholarship opportunities — boys also suffer as a result of these perplexing policies.

When a boy competes in a girls’ event, it is likely he may become a target of bullying and ridicule — and no student athlete deserves that. The only way to fully protect both girls and boys is to enact unequivocal policies and regulations.

This issue is heating up in advance of the Pennsylvania Indoor Track and Field Championship this weekend. Some parents of girls are outraged about a boy competing in one of the girls’ events at the most competitive meet of the season. One parent filed a lawsuit in January and requested a temporary restraining order to halt boys competing against girls as a result of her daughter being forced to compete and lose to a male athlete during a cross-country meet in the Fall.

The lawsuit is filed in the Eastern District federal court, and attorney Solomon Radner made the request for the temporary restraining order with the hope for a hearing prior to this weekend’s competition. In an interview with Broad + Liberty, Radner said, “unfortunately the timing was not possible, and now the hearing is scheduled for Tuesday; however, it is a good sign the judge is willing to have a hearing on the issue.”

The (redacted) complaint below was filed against the U.S. Department of Education, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, and two school districts alleging “a biological male was registered to compete in the biological female cross-country meet. The biological male won the race beating out all of the female athletes.”

The result of Tuesday’s hearing could have ramifications for PIAA, school districts, and the entire state.

And while the PIAA revised regulations appear to still allow some boys to compete in girls’ sports, it defended the changes as compliant.

“The PIAA Board of Directors’ position is to be in compliance to the Executive Order,” [sic] an email attributed only to ‘PIAA staff’ said. “The Board approved the language change from gender to sex is because the federal order of February 5, 2025, indicates athletic participation is determined according to sex. The order indicates ‘Sex’ shall refer to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female. ‘Sex is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of ‘gender identity.’”

“PIAA policy names the school solicitor to ensure that each school is aware of the legal ramifications of the federal order and its impact on their school.

“Sports officials’ responsibilities are to enforce the rules of the contest, not the eligibility of a student-athlete. That is handled by the school administration. Member Schools are providing District Chairman information that will be presented at the next Board meeting.”

PIAA’s full response can be viewed here.

The attorney who filed the complaint against PIAA and the other organizations said the new regulations are worse than a manipulation. “Lawyers often attempt to squeeze a circle into a square and then defend that it’s a circle,” said Solomon Radner with the Law Office of Keith Altman, a nationwide firm dedicated to defending civil rights. “Biology is the only objective criteria to maintain women’s sports.”

The parent of another girl who was forced to compete against the same boy identified in the complaint also expressed indignation about the situation. (The parent asked to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation against her daughter.)

“As a parent of a girl who was forced to compete against a biological boy at a track meet, I can’t begin to understand how our society came to this point where logic and common sense is tossed out of the window because everyone is now offended. Women have been fighting for their rights since 1848; we raise our daughters to stand up for themselves and use their voice. Now we are being told that we need to be silent and that we no longer have those rights due to transgender men. It is a medical fact that men are stronger and faster than women. No matter how many pills they take to try and offset it, there is a clear advantage.

“I am happy the PIAA has changed the rule when it comes to transgender athletes; however, some of the verbiage does leave one’s sex up for interpretation and that shouldn’t really be up to anyone to determine. If you are born a male, you are a male, and should compete as a male! I can guarantee lots of these transgender athletes wouldn’t be nearly as successful if they were competing against boys. Something needs to be changed in order to protect girls’ sports.”

PIAA’s unwillingness to make a strong, bold, and unequivocal statement is harming not only female athletes, but also transgender athletes. The reality of the situation is girls are losing out on opportunities to compete and potentially losing scholarships. They should not be forced to compete against boys, as this is the entire reason for the original Title IX rules — to protect girls and women. 

But now, not only are they forced to compete against boys who are physically stronger and faster, girls are required to share bathrooms and locker rooms with boys. And if they speak out about being uncomfortable or say it’s not fair, they are shut down and accused of being transphobic.

We have literally set the women’s movement back centuries.

But our girls are not the only ones we are harming with these nonsensical policies. Transgender athletes are suffering as well. They are adolescents who are struggling with a host of issues. Gender dysphoria is listed as a mental health condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). 

Transgender athletes do not deserve to be ridiculed or bullied, yet these weak policies open the door to this behavior. When they are allowed to take away opportunities for girls, the situation turns ugly, and maybe rightly so. These policies, and sometimes their parents, are setting up these already confused and struggling adolescents as targets. 

Organizations like PIAA and school districts have a moral and legal responsibility to protect all students and telling boys they can be girls and compete as a girl is harmful to everyone. These spineless policies do more harm than good especially for the transgender athletes they were allegedly designed to protect.

If we want to keep everyone safe and create a fair playing field, the policy needs to be very clear and unequivocal: Boys are not permitted to compete in girls’ sports. End of story.

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.