TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and his minions are messing around with President Donald J. Trump, and soon, they could be finding out in the form of cuts to federal funding for education.
Despite a recent executive order from President Trump aimed at barring transgender athletes from participating in school sports aligned with their gender identity, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) has announced it will not alter its existing transgender athlete policy.
The decision marks a significant act of defiance against the federal directive, setting the stage for a potential clash between state and federal authorities.
On February 5, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits transgender women and girls from competing in female sports categories at schools receiving federal funding.
The order, citing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, asserts that allowing transgender athletes to participate in accordance with their gender identity is “demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls” and undermines equal opportunities in competitive sports. Schools failing to comply risk losing federal funding, a penalty the Trump administration has already threatened to enforce in other states.
The NJSIAA, the governing body for high school athletics in New Jersey, responded this week by reaffirming its current policy, originally adopted in 2009 and amended in 2017.
The policy states: “A transgender student, defined as a student whose gender identity differs from the student’s sex assigned at birth, shall be eligible to participate in accordance with either their birth sex or in accordance with their gender identity, but not both.”
During its Executive Committee meeting on February 19, NJSIAA legal counsel Steve Goodell emphasized that no immediate changes would be made, signaling the organization’s intent to maintain its inclusive stance despite federal pressure.
https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2025/02/22/new-jersey-defies-trump-order-will-allow-male-athletes-to-compete-in-female-high-school-sports/