Trump gives shout-out to athlete injured by transgender girl

Washington: US President Donald Trump gave a special mention to Payton McNabb, a former high school athlete and vocal opponent of trans women’s participation in female sports.

He said that he has signed an executive order banning “men from playing women’s sports,” a move that aligns with legislation passed in at least 24 states.

During his speech to Congress, Trump declared, “I also signed an Executive Order to ban men from playing in women’s sports.”

Last month, Trump signed an executive order titled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, which mandates that federally funded K-12 schools and colleges bar transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports. So far, the order has not been legally challenged.

While addressing lawmakers, Trump gave a shout-out to Payton McNabb, who gained national attention in 2022 after a North Carolina high school volleyball match, during which she suffered a concussion and traumatic brain injury when a transgender girl on the opposing team spiked a ball that struck her head.

“Three years ago, Payton McNabb was an all-star high school athlete preparing for a future in college sports,” Trump said. “But when her girls’ volleyball match was invaded by a male, he smashed the ball so hard in Payton’s face, causing traumatic brain injury, partially paralyzing her right side, and ending her athletic career.”

Trump acknowledged McNabb’s presence in the gallery, adding, “Payton is here tonight, and from now on, schools will kick the men off the girls’ teams, or they will lose all federal funding.”

The executive order asserts that there are only “two immutable sexes” and is one of several actions Trump has taken against transgender rights.

His administration previously enacted policies that barred transgender individuals from serving in the military, restricted changes to gender markers on passports, and removed references to transgender people from a government website commemorating the Stonewall riot.

Several of these policies have faced legal opposition. In the past week, two judges have issued temporary holds on a separate policy that sought to block federal funding for gender-affirming healthcare for transgender individuals under the age of 19.

–IANS