True champions will never be built on trans-exclusive feminism
Cardinal Pride stands against the national attack on trans athletes and calls on Stanford Athletics to act now.
On Feb. 6, President Donald Trump signed one of his recent executive orders: “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” This order rescinds federal funds from university administrations that allow trans women to participate in sports, promotes international bans on trans women in sports and urges the Secretary of State and Homeland Security to bar trans women athletes from entering the country.
In under one month, Trump has signed over 60 executive orders, many of which are explicit attempts to exclude trans people from society. These include banning transgender people from the military, preventing medical insurance coverage for gender-affirming care, banning trans existence from federal language and now banning them from college sports.
Cardinal Pride is the club for queer varsity athletes at Stanford, and I am a member. We feel threatened by these actions and are wondering where the voice of Stanford Athletics is in supporting athletes in our community: not just as competitors, but as human beings. We interviewed current and former Stanford athletes in our community who shared our concerns.
In an interview with Stanford track alum R. Reichenbach ‘19, we discussed the dire implications for the national trans community.
“Trans and gender diverse athletes always have and always will participate in sports. And the reality is, the threat of exclusion is not a new conversation,” she said. “The sooner politicians realize that the linguistic policing of LGBTQI+ bodies will never erase us, the sooner we can move towards legislation that might positively impact all of our lives.”
There are many athletes who know and care about trans people but are still skeptical on this specific issue because of alleged questions of “fairness.” However, large bodies of data refute the narrative that trans women have large advantages in sport. In 2021, the AP reported that many states pushing for state-wide trans athlete exclusion in public high school sports could not cite specific instances in which trans participation prompted debates over their involvement in competition. Sports regulations should aim to include the best athletes possible. This executive order has nothing to do with improving women’s sports and everything to do with limiting the freedoms of trans people.
“This is just confusing,” lacrosse player Lucy Pearson ‘26 said.
Many conservative proponents of these bans call the “issue” of trans women in sports a “war on women.” This baseless scapegoating is contradictory, given how many disparities must be addressed in women’s sports. This specific targeting of trans women in sports while putting it under the guise of feminism and helping women is an example of Trans Exclusive Radical Feminist (or TERF) thinking. This ideology stems from racist and transphobic narratives that exclude non-white, non-cis women from feminist spaces. As such, this executive order was designed intentionally to garner support from the TERF community by falsifying a “pro-women” stance, when ironically this ideology is little more than a tool of the cis-het-patriarchy: it is clearly anti-women and anti-progress.
As women’s soccer player Kaiya Jota ‘28 puts it, this ban is “just Trump discouraging trans people from being a part of the community of sports.” On exclusion, Cardinal Pride President Andrea Kitahata ‘24 remarked, “He is targeting the most vulnerable group first. Where will he go from there?” This legislation opens the door to numerous harms and restrictions towards intersex athletes.
Another student athlete in Cardinal Pride who requested anonymity out of fear of harrassment reminded us that these issues are deeply intersectional and impact multiple communities across campus; we cannot forget how these political decisions affect our peers and the people beyond the university. She reflected on The Stanford Daily report that since the banning of race-conscious admissions in 2023, Black student enrollment at Stanford has dropped by 49.4%. These decisions continue to limit who is considered to “belong” in university spaces. Collective liberation cannot be built upon controlling other people. Activists including bell hooks and Fannie Lou Hamer have described this concept for decades, and it continues to hold true.
Kitahata commented that this overload of threatening executive orders is “a tactic to prompt people to be complicit.” We were not surprised, but we were discouraged that this conversation has yet to be had within Stanford.
Stanford Athletics can still support its LGBTQ+ athletes. As an athletic center historically focused on greatness in women’s sports and developing students as people, our administration has a responsibility to address and fight what is happening. Especially at a place like Stanford, privilege that comes with athletics for both student athletes and for the athletic department more broadly cannot be underestimated. The athletics community must determine how we can use that privilege to create positive change in the world rather than excluding athletes who always have and will always exist in our community.
Stanford Athletics has an opportunity to make their commitment clear, both through articulating their support for queer and trans student athletes — from whom the department directly benefits from in their athletic and academic achievements — and to set an example on the national stage. Cardinal Pride stands with our queer and trans athletes and will defend our space on campus and in sports beyond.
Stanford Athletics: we’re looking for your words and your actions. We see your media promotions when we win National Championships, and we saw your posts on National Women in Sports Day — ironic, given your silence in the face of these current attacks on trans women in sports. The world is watching more closely than you think. To readers and the Stanford community, consider signing our petition for Stanford Athletics to act now.
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