Over the last four years, media coverage of women’s sports has tripled. Not only is this attention and respect well deserved, but it has also had a positive effect on girls’ participation and inclusion in youth sports. From demanding equal pay for women’s teams to tackling abuse and harassment in the industry, female athletes have advocated for fair treatment not just of themselves, but for women across all industries. This progress is amazing, but it is also in danger of being undone depending on the results of the 2024 presidential election.
For many, watching Monday Night Football or the World Series is an escape from the real world and its problems. But for those who had to fight to be seen in the sports world, it is impossible to turn on a game and ignore the political context in which it is being played. Inequality and marginalization are interwoven in sports, from blatant examples such as harassment and wage discrimination, to more insidious forms like low sponsorship and objectification. Women have been fighting for athletic equality for hundreds of years, and another Donald Trump presidency would likely reverse the progress that has been made, both collegiately and professionally.
On May 6, 2020, the Trump administration issued a rollback of Title IX, a 1972 federal law aimed to prevent gender and sex-based discrimination. Its original focus was to create equality in sports, but by the 1990s, there were more rules added to regulate sexual violence and gender identity discrimination. Trump intended to remove transgender women from women’s sports, which was previously protected under Title IX, along with a series of setbacks that make reporting sexual violence on college campuses more time consuming and difficult.
In 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that directed the Education Secretary to propose new policies to expand Title IX again. In response, Trump has threatened to get rid of Title IX and the Department of Education if reelected.
Without Title IX, many of our modern day sport heroes would not have had the level of success that we think of them having. The Caitlin Clarks and Angel Reeses of today would not be getting this level of media attention without the hardships that their predecessors went through. Trump’s repeated harassment and mistreatment of women throughout his life depicts the lack of respect he has for them. Voting him into office would be disregarding all of the women who have been fighting for equality, both on and off the field.
The United States House of Representatives passed H.J.Res.165 in July, a resolution aiming to overturn the Department of Education’s rule that clarified “Title IX non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students, pregnant and parenting students, and survivors of sexual assault and harassment.” The resolution is now on the Senate Legislative Calendar, and if passed will be brought to the president. If the resolution is enacted, it will prohibit future administrations from defining certain non-discrimination protections that are pertinent to female athletes in Title IX.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative group composed of many members of the Trump administration, wrote a 900-page policy handbook called Project 2025, which — if enacted — will strip women of reproductive health care and increase federal surveillance of pregnant people. Project 2025 would eliminate references to abortion, reproductive health and sexual and reproductive rights from all federal regulations and contracts, following its “Life Agenda.” The handbook asserts its plans to reform the mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Task Force from reproductive healthcare access to an anti-abortion, “pro-life” agenda.
Without the access to safe and reliable abortion or other reproductive care, many athletes may be forced to carry out unwanted pregnancies, halting their career for nine months and even longer as they recover after childbirth. These restrictions on bodily autonomy put female athletes at a large disadvantage to their male counterparts who will never experience the same thing.
Women have come so far in sports — from the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team to the Professional Women’s Hockey League to collegiate and professional basketball. Let’s not undermine their work by electing someone with such a flagrant disregard for women’s rights.
Contact Sidney Snider at [email protected].
