Former President Donald Trump promised to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports if he is reelected to the White House in 2024.
Trump made the comments during a long, meandering speech before throngs of followers and conservative activists in Conroe, Texas, on Saturday night in one of what is expected to be a series of political rallies intended to gauge support for a future White House run.
In his speech, Trump made several promises offering so-called “red meat” to Republican base voters on various hot-button issues, promising to undo some of President Joe Biden’s executive orders, ban critical race theory in schools and workplaces, pardon those accused of taking part in the Capitol riot, and build a border wall and deport undocumented immigrants, all while ranting about how he was cheated out of a second term due to alleged — yet unproven — electoral fraud.
But there was a significant cheer from those in attendance after Trump promised to “ban men from participating in women’s sports,” adding that the concept was “[s]o ridiculous.”
Without mentioning her by name, Trump referenced University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and her recent successes in the pool, deliberately misgendering her and at times exaggerating how well she has been performing. For example, Trump did not mention that Thomas recently lost a few shorter-distance events in a dual meet against Yale and Dartmouth. In one of those races, Thomas placed sixth, behind four other cisgender females and winner Iszac Henig, a trans male not currently on hormones — whom Trump and his followers would ostensibly misgender as a “woman.”
“Did you see the man who is on the swimming team at a certain school that I know well?” Trump, a graduate of U Penn’s Wharton School of Business, said.
“The record held for like 11 years, he beat it by 38 seconds,” he added, referring to times Thomas posted at an invitational earlier in the season that beat the standing Ivy League record for the 1,650-yard freestyle.
Trump then went off on a tangent that appeared to attack New Zealand transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard — again, not specifically mentioning her name — for competing in the Olympics, claiming she was doing deadlifts with only one hand and breaking longstanding records. Yet at the Olympics, Hubbard ended up placing last among all competitors in the +87-kilogram group after failing three times to snatch-lift 125 kilograms.
“But the best is the weightlifting records — they’re going,” Trump said. “One guy walks in with one hand [and] he broke the record that held up for 20 years. … Take a look at the weightlifting records. Two ounces is unacceptable. They beat ’em by many, many, many, many, many, many pounds.”
Yet Trump’s rhetoric on trans athletes will likely play well among Republican voters, who overwhelmingly oppose the idea of allowing transgender people to compete in sports based on their gender identity, according to polling.
Many Republican-led states have proposed or passed bills to bar transgender females from competing in women’s sports, including, most recently, South Dakota, where Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has attempted to use the issue to elevate her national profile ahead of what some political observers believe may be an attempt at a 2024 presidential run.
The year's nearly out. Sometimes that calls for taking sweet stock of the past months' wonderful events. Coming to the end of 2025, on the other hand, is more like getting to that denouement in the action movie where the survivors take a breath and pat each other on the back for having made it out alive. At this stage, we are Newt getting tucked-in to her Sulaco hibernation tube.
With some effort and a pinch of luck, may we all fare better in 2026 than poor Newt's end at the start of Alien 3.
Why such a shitty year? So much of it, obviously, can be laid at the feet of Lame Duck Donald. Not that he hasn't had loads of assistance in his evil efforts to erase our transgender family and friends, colleagues, and leaders during 2025. The purge, as promised, began right out of the gate on Inauguration Day.
In a surprise appearance on Sunday, Nicki Minaj addressed Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025, an annual conference aimed at younger MAGA activists, where she reaffirmed her recent anti-transgender views.
The rapper built her career with the help of a deeply devoted fanbase known as “Barbz,” many of whom are gay men. At the event, the “Super Bass” singer repeated the phrase “Boys, be boys” while seated on stage beside conservative lightning-rod Erika Kirk.
She continued her attacks on California Governor Gavin Newsom at the December 21 event, while offering effusive praise for the president and vice president.
Congressional lawmakers have approved a measure that would bar Medicaid -- the federal health insurance program for low-income Americans -- from covering gender-affirming care, including hormonal and surgical interventions, for minors.
The "Do No Harm in Medicaid Act," sponsored by U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), is the third in a series of Republican-backed efforts to block people under 18 from accessing medical treatments that assist in a gender transition.
The measure passed by a 215-201 vote, with four Democrats -- Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) -- joining Republicans in support of the ban.
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