Spanberger: VHSL, NCAA should set policy on transgender athletes

“As a parent, Congresswoman Spanberger believes that sports should be fair, competitive, and safe,” Libby Wiet, press secretary for Spanberger’s campaign, said in a statement.

“In Virginia, the responsibility of making these determinations falls on the Virginia High School League and the NCAA — and these bodies are appropriately reviewing their policies.

“It is up to them to listen to the input of all parents, athletes, and coaches — because those are whose voices should be heard on this issue.”

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, backs President Donald Trump’s executive order that seeks to prohibit transgender athletes from playing in girls’ or women’s sports.

Earle-Sears said Friday in a post on X: “Girls’ sports are for girls. Period. The Virginia High School League is refusing to follow federal law and President Trump’s executive order, putting our state at legal risk and young women in danger. Every female athlete deserves a level playing field — this is non-negotiable.”

The NCAA on Thursday changed its policy for transgender athletes so that only athletes assigned female at birth may compete in women’s sports. The move came a day after Trump’s executive order that says federal agencies can withhold federal funding from schools that do not abide by the Trump administration’s view of Title IX, which sees “sex” as the gender at birth.

The VHSL reasserted in a statement on Thursday that it will not ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports, barring a change to state law.

“The Virginia High School League already has policies governing transgender athlete participation,” VHSL spokesperson Mike McCall told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in a text message. “The VHSL will continue following our current policy and the current law in Virginia.”

Gov. Glenn Youngkin called on the VHSL Friday to reverse course like the NCAA.

“Biological boys should not be competing against girls. This is just common sense,” Youngkin wrote in a post on X.

“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 @realDonaldTrump’s Executive Order protecting girls’ sports.”

Youngkin joined Trump at the White House on Wednesday when the president signed the executive order titled: “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

“With my action this afternoon, we’re 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 federal funding,” said Trump, standing before a group of young female athletes.

Earlier on Wednesday, in a social media post on X, Youngkin wrote: “Today on National Girls & Women in Sports Day, we are reminded that men shouldn’t be competing in women’s sports. This is common sense.”

The Associated Press reported that Trump’s order allows the federal Department of Education to penalize schools that permit transgender athletes to compete, citing noncompliance with Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination in schools.

On Jan. 15, Youngkin, Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares called on the General Assembly to keep transgender women, whom they called “biological males,” out of women’s sports in Virginia.

They called for passage of legislation sponsored by Del. Delores Oates, R-Warren, and state Sen. Tammy Mulchi, R-Mecklenburg, that would bar students whose biological sex is male from participating in high school or college teams and sports expressly designated for females.

Both bills failed. Mulchi’s Senate Bill 749 was defeated Jan. 23 in a 9-6 party-line vote in the Senate Education and Health Committee. Oates’ House Bill 1809 was left in the House Committee on Rules and was not acted on by Tuesday night’s Crossover deadline for the House and Senate to act on their own legislation, other than the budget bills.

Equality Virginia faulted the Youngkin administration for backing the president’s executive order.

“Executive orders are not legislation, they are not law, and they do not supersede state laws,” said Narissa Rahaman, executive director of Equality Virginia.

She said the General Assembly has taken up bills on transgender athletes and gender-affirming care and, in both cases, the assembly has declined to pursue bans on either.

“State law is clear,” Rahaman continued. “What is unclear is why the Youngkin administration is spending its final year cozying up to the Trump administration and repeatedly singling out transgender Virginians for discrimination.”

Current VHSL policy allows student-athletes to compete on teams that match their gender identity if the VHSL grants an appeal.

From 2020-24, the VHSL heard 30 appeals, granting 27 and denying three. In 2021-22, the organization granted 10 appeals, a high during the five-year stretch.

In the 2024-25 school year, it heard five appeals, granted four and denied one. In other words, four student-athletes were allowed to play, and one wasn’t.