Virginia order bars males from competing in girls’ sports

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Friday, October 03, 2025Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin answers questions from members of the media after touring an H Mart supermarket while meeting with Asian community leaders on April 06, 2023, in Fairfax, Virginia. | Win McNamee/Getty ImagesVirginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ordered the state board of health to create regulations barring males who identify as female from participating in athletics and using facilities designated for girls and women.Youngkin issued Executive Directive 14, titled “Directing the Promulgation of Regulations to Secure the Health, Safety, Privacy, Dignity and Respect for All Virginians in Sex Separated Spaces.” The directive orders the Virginia Board of Health to enact regulations that, among other things, “Prevent biological males from participating in organized female-only athletic teams and competitions in Virginia” and “Prevent biological males from using designated female spaces where females are likely to be in a state of undress.””The health and safety of women and girls in sex separated spaces and participating in athletic competitions is in serious jeopardy due to irresponsible policies, including those that allow known sex offenders to hunt little girls in public locker rooms,” said Youngkin.”It is an embarrassment and a tragedy that certain individuals continue to turn a blind eye to these clear violations of the law and of the health, safety, privacy, dignity, and respect of Virginians. This must stop.”Narissa Rahaman, executive director of the LGBT advocacy group Equality Virginia, called the directive a partisan distraction.”The Governor is throwing ‘Hail Mary’ after ‘Hail Mary’ to distract Virginians from the very real public health issues we are facing, some of which his administration is responsible for,” Rahaman said in a statement quoted by The Washington Post.”Our message to the Governor — transgender Virginians have always existed, always will, and nothing will ever change that.”The directive cited an ongoing legal conflict between the Trump administration and five Virginia school districts — Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William — which have refused to change their policies allowing male athletes to compete in girls’ sports, despite the U.S. Department of Education labeling such policies discriminatory.The document also listed complaints filed against Virginia schools, such as a Sept. 2 complaint that a male was watching females change in the girls’ locker room of a Fairfax County public school. Virginians will soon determine who will replace Youngkin next year, as the Commonwealth does not allow consecutive terms as governor.The race has come down to current Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, both of whom could be the first female governor of Virginia.The Earle-Sears campaign has frequently run television ads accusing Spanberger of being radically pro-trans and a supporter of policies such as allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports and forcing girls to share locker rooms with men who identify as female.The Spanberger campaign has mainly focused on portraying Earle-Sears as being right-wing on economic issues and too supportive of the Trump administration and its policies.According to an Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey, the results of which were released earlier this week, Spanberger currently has 52% support while Earle-Sears has 42% support.The two candidates are scheduled to have a debate next Thursday.Follow Michael Gryboski on Twitter or Facebook