USTA bans trans athletes from competing as women to comply with Trump executive order

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On the day Donald Trump was inaugurated into his second term as president, he signed a slew of executive orders: That included No. 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports.” More than 11 months later, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) has changed its policies for trans women players in compliance with Trump’s order, The Handbasket is first to report

Public and internal documents reviewed by The Handbasket show that an official policy effective December 1, 2025, states that trans women are prohibited from competing in sex-specific USTA “leagues, tournaments and competitions.” The USTA quietly revised its Player Eligibility Policy page on October 25th, according to a note at the bottom of the page. There was no prior warning about the change and there has been no press release published by the main governing body for American tennis. An unpublished FAQ document that I reviewed shows the organization is preparing for questions and pushback for when this becomes widely known. That time, it appears, is now.

Valerie knew the doubles tournament she was playing in this past Sunday would be her last in the USTA women’s league—at least for now. Valerie, 61, is a trans woman who registered as a St. Louis-area USTA member in 2019 shortly after she publicly transitioned, and described an overall positive experience. But on November 17th, the same regional leaders who had at first made her feel so welcome asked to meet with her privately to warn her about what was coming. Despite the fact that the new policy was so under the radar that even her team co-captains didn’t know, Valerie informed them in mid-November that she would be stepping away as a result. In a phone call Wednesday, she called that conversation “quite emotional.” 

“Everything would have just gone on as normal until someone maybe might have found that policy and filed a complaint because they didn't like it, and that's how I would become aware of it,” Valerie told me about the lack of announcement. 

When you think of the USTA, you probably picture the US Open and other major American tournaments. But USTA actually has multiple levels of members: collegiate, olympic, professional and recreational. Even beginners can join as members in order to play with people at the same level. Valerie is a recreational player who has excelled at the sport for many years, playing at a 4.0 level (out of 5.) She’s a gifted player who has now been sidelined thanks to cruel anti-trans policy coming from the highest levels of government. 

The directive to change USTA policy came from the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), both of which changed their guidelines in response to Trump. “Failure to comply with this directive risks the USTA’s status as the National Governing Body (‘NGB’) for the sport of tennis in the United States,” the new USTA policy states. The definitions used by the USOPC and the IOC were taken directly from a different Trump executive order—14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”—using it to define terms like sex, women/woman, girls/girl and female.

Prior to publishing the policy, USTA internally sent around answers to frequently asked questions that USTA Customer Care and Section/State District Personnel could expect to receive, per an internal document reviewed by The Handbasket. One anticipated question is why this policy only applies to trans women and not trans men. Suggested response: “The purpose of Executive Order 14201 is to protect opportunities for women and girls to compete in sports. Transgender males are perceived as having no impact on the fairness or safety of the women's category, which is the sole focus of the order.”

Another FAQ reads, “Will USTA require copies of birth certificates during the membership purchase or event registration process?” The answer: “No, USTA will not require birth certificates; however, USTA reserves the right to request documentation to support attestations submitted during the event registration or membership purchase process, or in the event an eligibility challenge.”

Also according to the FAQ document, if a trans woman USTA player who competes in competitive tournaments re-registers as male to be in compliance, all the ranking points they’ve accrued up until that point will be “zeroed out.” In other words, they have to start from scratch.

The policy changes came on the heels of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, an ultra-conservative Republican, announcing an investigation into USTA’s Texas league. On November 18th, his office published a press release saying the investigation was meant “to determine if the organization has violated Texas law by allowing biological males to participate in women’s matches.” It’s unclear is USTA National’s policy change is related to Paxton’s investigation, but the timing is certainly curious. 

In early September, Trump and his entourage attended the US Open finals in Flushing Meadows, Queens, causing massive entry delays and pissing off fans. I was in the crowd (thanks to reader donations that helped me purchase the absurdly expensive ticket) and witnessed the whole thing—from Trump coming out to wave from the Rolex suite, to the USTA bringing the trophy to the suite just for him. He was not a president; he was a king. 

It’s not incredibly surprising to see USTA capitulate like this after they hid the news he’d be attending the US Open (news which was broken by me) and seemingly did everything in their power to make him feel welcome. The USTA caused a firestorm before the match by sending an email to all broadcast media asking them “to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the President’s attendance in any capacity.” 

The change is surprising, however, given the sport’s long history with trans women athletes, starting with Dr. Renée Richards. In 1976, Richards, a trans woman, began playing professional tennis but could not compete in the US Open because she previously refused to take a mandated chromosome test. She sued and took her case to the New York State Supreme Court, where in 1977 Judge Alfred Ascione ruled in her favor. “This person is now a female,” he said. Richards never won a major tournament but would go on to coach Martina Navratilova to two Wimbledon titles. (It should be noted that unfortunately Richards now believes that trans women who transition after puberty should not be allowed to compete as women.) 

I’ve reached out to USTA’s Head of Communications & Content about why no announcement was made and whether they plan to formally notify members. I did not receive a reply by the time of publishing.