Megan Rapinoe denounces Trump’s ban on trans athletes from women’s sports: ‘Cruel and depraved’
WASHINGTON, DC: Retired US Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT) star Megan Rapinoe blasted President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, calling it a “disingenuous” attack disguised as a defense of women’s rights.
In a recent interview with MUNDIAL magazine, Rapinoe made it clear that this isn't about protecting women’s sports, it’s about targeting trans people, Fox News reported.
Megan Rapinoe slams Donald Trump’s executive order on trans athletes
"Don't tell me it's about the rights of women's sports," Megan Rapinoe said.
"That is totally just disingenuous to say that. I think it's just really cruel. You know, if you strip it all back, it's just kind of cruel and depraved. This isn't an issue, and you aren't going to be able to Executive Order trans people out of existence," she further said.
Rapinoe went on to claim that women’s sports are somehow under attack by Trump, not transgender athletes. “We’ve just gone through a very long period over ten years of really needing to fight just to get to a baseline of, like, equal rights and non-discriminatory behavior, and when people stop just s**ting on women’s sports. I think we are sort of at that moment,” she exclaimed.
Her comments came after Trump signed the 'Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports' order, which seeks to "defend the proud tradition of female athletes" by banning transgender girls and women from participating in women's sports. It forces federally funded entities to follow Title IX protections based on biological sex.
This move reversed former president Joe Biden’s 2024 rewrite, which had expanded protections for transgender athletes.
Megan Rapinoe earlier admitted feeling ‘overwhelmed’ by possible Donald Trump comeback
Megan Rapinoe, a longtime critic of Donald Trump, has repeatedly voiced concerns about his policies, particularly their impact on marginalized communities. In November 2024, she admitted feeling “overwhelmed” by the prospect of his return to the White House.
Rapinoe shared her concerns on her podcast, 'A Touch More', "I feel overwhelmed by the reality that is going to be a Trump presidency, which we have seen before so I don’t feel like I’m saying anything new but the reality where like anything crazy could happen any day. I think that is really overwhelming."
"I think that I feel not so much personally scared because I think that we live in very progressive places, we’re unbelievably privileged in our place in the world and life and financially and all of these things, but I think that fear extends to just people in general that will be really affected," she said.
"I’m thinking of all my trans friends and people that I know and trans kids. I’m thinking about the potential of mass deportations if that is going to happen, and just like the general chaos that’s going to be sown is really overwhelming," she added.
As her recent interview with MUNDIAL wrapped up, Rapinoe called on fellow athletes to take a stand.
"There’s so many ways that we can grow and kind of codify lasting change," she said. "And I always encourage players specifically to be involved and use their voice. Players, actually, are always the most powerful people in sports," the soccer star added.
