It didn't take long to figure out how a recent executive order from President Donald Trump would affect Massachusetts..The president signed an executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" on Wednesday that urged the federal government to withhold federal funding from schools that allow males to compete in women's sports and to investigate the schools and sporting bodies that allow it.On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights announced its first investigations in response to the decree of what it sees as Title IX violations against females.The targets? San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. “President Trump’s Executive Order ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ is a promise to women and girls: this administration will not tolerate the mistreatment of female athletes," said Craig Trainor, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, said in a Department of Education press release. "The Department is taking swift action to investigate three entities for suspected Title IX violations: San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. The previous administration trampled the rights of American women and girls — and ignored the indignities to which they were subjected in bathrooms and locker rooms — to promote a radical transgender ideology. That regime ended on January 20, 2025."A spokesman for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday afternoon.The U.S. Department of Education notified K-12 schools and higher education institutions last week that the Trump administration will base Title IX protections on sex, not gender identity.Title IX of the federal Education Act Amendments of 1972 says: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation, in be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."The federal education agency cited a February 2023 incident in which a KIPP Academy Lynn player, a male with facial hair who starred in three sports, injured three girls in the first half of a basketball game against Collegiate Charter School of Lowell.Transgender-identifying athletes in Massachusetts have also won state championships in girls' track (once) and girls' basketball (twice) since 2023.Transgender-identifying athletes can compete on teams that match their so-called gender identity in Massachusetts due to An Act Relative To Gender Identity, a bill then-Governor Deval Patrick signed into law in 2011.Additionally, Massachusetts is the lone state that allows boys who identify as boys, to compete in girls sports -- the result of a 1979; the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling (in a case called Attorney General v. MIAA) finding that barring boys from competing in girls' sports violates the state's 1976 voter-approved Equal Rights Amendment. Since then, boys have competed in girls' sports like field hockey, girls' volleyball, girls' gymnastics, girls' swimming, and even girls soccer, among others.Notably, Somerset Berkley girls' field hockey has won three state championships with boys on their team since 2018. In 2018 and 2019, the team had boys named Lucas Crook and Alex Millar on the roster; Crook is the school's all-time leading scorer. And in November 2024, Ryan Crook, netted both goals in the team's 2-1 state championship game win over Norwood.Field hockey also saw a noteworthy injury: a 2023 incident where a Swampscott High male field hockey player knocked out some of a girl's teeth during a game against Dighton-Rehoboth.In addition, three boys have won individual state titles on the vault in girls' gymnastics: Daniel Barskiy of Winchester High School in 2019, Kevin Theodoro of Framingham High School in 2020, and Andrew Znoj of Mansfield High School in 2024. An organization called Massachusetts High School Gymnastics Coaches puts on the annual girls' gymnastics individual state meet.NewBostonPost has also covered many other instances of males competing in girls sports in Massachusetts, something that has received less attention from legacy media.
It didn't take long to figure out how a recent executive order from President Donald Trump would affect Massachusetts..The president signed an executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" on Wednesday that urged the federal government to withhold federal funding from schools that allow males to compete in women's sports and to investigate the schools and sporting bodies that allow it.On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights announced its first investigations in response to the decree of what it sees as Title IX violations against females.The targets? San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. “President Trump’s Executive Order ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ is a promise to women and girls: this administration will not tolerate the mistreatment of female athletes," said Craig Trainor, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, said in a Department of Education press release. "The Department is taking swift action to investigate three entities for suspected Title IX violations: San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. The previous administration trampled the rights of American women and girls — and ignored the indignities to which they were subjected in bathrooms and locker rooms — to promote a radical transgender ideology. That regime ended on January 20, 2025."A spokesman for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday afternoon.The U.S. Department of Education notified K-12 schools and higher education institutions last week that the Trump administration will base Title IX protections on sex, not gender identity.Title IX of the federal Education Act Amendments of 1972 says: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation, in be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."The federal education agency cited a February 2023 incident in which a KIPP Academy Lynn player, a male with facial hair who starred in three sports, injured three girls in the first half of a basketball game against Collegiate Charter School of Lowell.Transgender-identifying athletes in Massachusetts have also won state championships in girls' track (once) and girls' basketball (twice) since 2023.Transgender-identifying athletes can compete on teams that match their so-called gender identity in Massachusetts due to An Act Relative To Gender Identity, a bill then-Governor Deval Patrick signed into law in 2011.Additionally, Massachusetts is the lone state that allows boys who identify as boys, to compete in girls sports -- the result of a 1979; the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling (in a case called Attorney General v. MIAA) finding that barring boys from competing in girls' sports violates the state's 1976 voter-approved Equal Rights Amendment. Since then, boys have competed in girls' sports like field hockey, girls' volleyball, girls' gymnastics, girls' swimming, and even girls soccer, among others.Notably, Somerset Berkley girls' field hockey has won three state championships with boys on their team since 2018. In 2018 and 2019, the team had boys named Lucas Crook and Alex Millar on the roster; Crook is the school's all-time leading scorer. And in November 2024, Ryan Crook, netted both goals in the team's 2-1 state championship game win over Norwood.Field hockey also saw a noteworthy injury: a 2023 incident where a Swampscott High male field hockey player knocked out some of a girl's teeth during a game against Dighton-Rehoboth.In addition, three boys have won individual state titles on the vault in girls' gymnastics: Daniel Barskiy of Winchester High School in 2019, Kevin Theodoro of Framingham High School in 2020, and Andrew Znoj of Mansfield High School in 2024. An organization called Massachusetts High School Gymnastics Coaches puts on the annual girls' gymnastics individual state meet.NewBostonPost has also covered many other instances of males competing in girls sports in Massachusetts, something that has received less attention from legacy media.
