Starmer urged to follow Trump and ban trans athletes from women’s sport – ‘Sex in sport really matters!’
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to follow in Donald Trump’s footsteps after the President signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.
British Olympic medallist Sharron Davies took to social media to address Starmer directly, calling on him to fulfil previous commitments and “protect” women’s sports.
“Please Keir Starmer can you now do as you said you would and protect all female athletes here in the UK in sport and stop males from stealing their places, awards amd increasing their risk of injury? Sex in sport really matters…” Davies wrote.
Trump’s executive order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” was signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day – and follows a long-running row over trans athletes in the US.
The directive will penalise schools and athletic associations that permit trans athletes to participate in female categories.
Educational institutions found violating the order could lose their federal funding.
During the signing ceremony, surrounded by female athletes and supporters, Trump declared: “The war on women’s sports is over.”
He framed the measure as essential for protecting fairness in female athletics, comparing it to his previous efforts to remove what he called “woke lunacy” from the military.
Davies praised Trump’s phrasing of the ban in a response to a White House Press Secretary post.
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“It’s so important this is phrased correctly. Trump has correctly banned ‘males’ from a category they never ever belonged in… women and girls,” she wrote.
“Biology matters especially in a physical activity like sport, but women and girls deserve spaces away from any amd all males,” Davies added.
Her comments came after the White House press chief Karoline Leavitt posted: “PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT! President Trump signs an Executive Order to BAN men in women’s sports!”
The order extends beyond school sports, with Trump vowing to block transgender athletes from competing in elite international events hosted in the US, including the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“My administration will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes. We’re not going to let it happen,” Trump stated.
The directive also targets visa applications for trans women seeking to compete as female athletes in US-based competitions.
“Just to make sure, I’m directing our secretary of homeland security to block any fraudulent applications by men trying to enter the US as women athletes,” Trump added.
This marks Trump’s third executive order targeting transgender people since returning to office last month.
But this one is expected to face legal challenges due to potential conflicts with Title IX, the civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programmes.