President Donald Trump did exactly what his voters wanted him to do when he signed an executive order that threatened to withhold federal funds from schools that allow biological men to compete in women and girls’ sports. As part of this executive order, Trump warned that any school that violates this order will face consequences. Nevertheless, several schools have chosen to openly defy Trump’s Title IX rule.

The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) made headlines earlier this week for coming out against Trump’s order. They made it clear they had no intention of following suit with keeping men out of women’s sports. As time marches on, the playing field of defiance appears to be getting more populated.

In the Golden State, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) publicly announced they will continue allowing transgender-identifying male athletes in their female divisions. CIF had issued this statement on February 7:

“The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records.”

Additionally, there’s pushback swelling in New Hampshire after two trans-identifying student athletes challenged Trump’s executive order. On Wednesday, DNYUZ reported, “the teenagers asked the court … to add Mr. Trump and members of his administration as defendants in a lawsuit the students filed last summer regarding their eligibility to play girls’ sports at school.” According to the outlet, this may be the first official court challenge to Trump’s order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

The students who filed the lawsuit claimed Trump’s decision is “a broad intention to deny transgender people legal protections and to purge transgender people from society.” One of the trans-identifying students, Parker Tirrell, said in an interview, “The amount of effort [Trump is] going through to stop me from playing sports seems extraordinarily high, for not a very good reason.”

On the other hand, schools such as the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) are complying with Trump’s order. According to an RIT spokesperson, Sadie Schreiner, a biological male, will no longer be competing on the women’s track team. Beyond Trump’s action, RIT also wants to fall in line with the NCAA’s policy change keeping male athletes out of women’s sports. As the spokesperson explained, “We continue to follow the NCAA participation policy for transgender student-athletes following the Trump administration’s executive order. Sadie is not participating in the next meet.”

Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education (DOE), addressed the schools and organizations that are choosing to publicly go against Trump’s order. These groups “are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want,” he said, “but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law.” In fact, President Trump is launching investigations into those who will not oblige — which are in addition to the investigations he has already launched on the University of Pennsylvania and San Jose State University for their alleged Title IX violations.

“[The Office of Civil Rights’] Chicago and San Francisco regional offices will conduct directed investigations into both organizations to ensure that female athletes in these states are treated with the dignity, respect, and equality that the Trump administration demands,” Trainor stated. “I would remind these organizations that history does not look kindly on entities and states that actively opposed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws that protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment.”

Both MSHSL and CIF have received letters from the DOE informing them that state law “does not preempt or otherwise nullify federal anti-discrimination laws,” and that “member schools remain subject to Title IX and its implementing regulations.” 

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, had previously said on his program “The Briefing” that “when you get closer to creation order, the importance of the issues just skyrocket.” In terms of transgenderism, and especially how it pertains to the realm of sports, he added that Trump’s order may have been the start of “something like a dividing line in history.”

“Girls and young women are a reality,” he emphasized, “and so is the threat to … female sports when it comes to the transgender revolution” with “boys and men … competing against girls and women in athletic competition.” Ultimately, he argued, what President Trump is doing with his order is “driving the reality of male and female, and that means the reality as Christians understand of creation order through federal policies.”

Mohler explained how it’s more than likely that Trump expects his orders to be challenged, as they have been. However, he added, “it’s pretty clear that President Trump is invigorated by the thought. I think he wants his administration to go into court and make the arguments, and he knows that the vast majority of the American people are with him.”

Concerning the legal challenges against the Trump administration’s actions, Mohler concluded, “I’m not saying they necessarily welcome it, but knowing it’s inevitable, I think they do welcome the opportunity to defend the policy, and frankly to have America watch as they defend the policy.”