PIAA eliminates transgender athlete policy, changes language to comply with Trump’s executive order

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, February 20, 2025 | 7:01 PM

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The PIAA eliminated its one-sentence transgender athlete policy and changed language in its handbook to no longer ask member schools to determine those students’ “gender” but rather their “sex.”

The changes were approved Wednesday by the PIAA board to comply with an executive order signed Feb. 5 by President Donald Trump barring transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports. The PIAA oversees interscholastic sports in Pennsylvania.

“We’ve had some of the member schools ask some questions, and I thought this was a further clarification,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said.

The PIAA had announced in a Feb. 6 statement that it would “comply with the law” as established.

Before Wednesday, the PIAA handbook included a one-sentence transgender policy: “Where a student’s gender is questioned or uncertain, the decision of the Principal as to the student’s gender will be accepted by PIAA.”

That board voted to immediately remove that policy.

“That’s gone away,” Lombardi said. “That was a step in adherence of the executive order.”

Elsewhere in the PIAA handbook, the board amended its policy on mixed gender participation by replacing references to “gender” with “sex” and directed schools to confer with attorneys regarding compliance to the executive order. The PIAA also shifted the responsibility to schools at large rather than principals.

“Where a student’s sex is questioned or uncertain, the decision of the school as to the student’s sex will be accepted by PIAA. In accordance with the Presidential Executive Order 14201 entitled ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ … schools are required to consult with their school solicitors relative to compliance with the Order.”

Unlike some other states, the PIAA never developed its own policy for determining an athlete’s gender, instead relying on school principals. The PIAA faced increased scrutiny two years ago when the state track and field championships included a transgender girl on the medal stand for the first time.

The Trump administration’s order directed federal agencies to prioritize Title IX enforcement against “educational institutions” and “athletic associations” that let transgender athletes compete in girls or women’s sports. Lombardi said the board wanted to provide clarity on the PIAA’s position.

“I think the board did a good job conveying that while still giving schools the ability to speak to their legal team if they have issues,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi noted that the executive order said schools in violation could lose access to federal funds. Since the PIAA is a collection of schools both public and private, not all receive such funds.

“PIAA as an organization does not receive federal funding, and there’s a legal question on Title IX with us,” Lombardi said. “However, the order says ‘members schools’ or ‘associated schools.’ Many of our schools need that funding for a whole lot of programs they run, so we didn’t want to put them in peril.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.