The Virginia High School League is reversing its transgender athlete policy following an executive order from President Donald Trump.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia High School League is reversing its transgender athlete policy following an executive order from President Donald Trump and a call to action from Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
The VHSL’s executive committee voted to bring the league in compliance with the Executive Order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” per a Monday statement from the league.
The change is effective immediately.
The committee directed staff to immediately propose policy changes in the form of emergency legislation to comply with Trump’s executive order, meaning transgender athletes will not be allowed to compete in girls’ sports.
Staff will adjust the language to the VHSL handbook in the coming days, officials said.
On Friday, Youngkin posted a statement on Facebook stating “biological boys should not be competing against girls.”
“The Virginia High School League must change course immediately just like the NCAA,” Youngkin said.
The Republican governor said Virginia schools were at risk of losing millions of dollars in federal school funding if the VHSL did not comply. The NCAA changed its policy for transgender athletes Thursday, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth.
Youngkin’s statement came after the VHSL said despite Trump’s order barring transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, its policy would remain unchanged and continue allowing transgender student-athletes to compete.
A spokesperson for VHSL added that the executive order “limits competition in girls’ sports to students assigned female at birth only. That is all it addresses,” when asked if athletes assigned female at birth would also be banned from competing in boys’ sports.
Last week, the VHSL also shared statistics on how many transgender students have appealed to compete since the policy went into effect in 2014. The previous VHSL policy required students to appeal to compete alongside their gender identity.
The VHSL has only received appeals from 17 of Virginia’s 131 school districts:
Appeals to the VHSL policy since 2014:
- 48 total appeals
- 42 appeals granted
- 5 appeals denied
- 1 no decision (Parent did not sign the waiver request)
Data from FY2022 through January 2025:
- 29 total appeals (20 transboys and 9 transgirls)
- FY 2022 – 10 appeals
- FY 2023 – 10 appeals
- FY 2024 – 4 appeals
- FY 2025 – 5 appeals
- 26 appeals were granted and 3 appeals were denied
“The VHSL is an association comprising 318 member schools with more than 177,000 students participating yearly in sports and academic activities. The VHSL is the governing body, and our member schools look to and rely on the VHSL for policy and guidance. To that end, the VHSL will comply with the Executive Order,” said VHSL Executive Director John W. Haun. “The compliance will provide membership clear and consistent direction.”