The State Department is ordering officials worldwide to deny visas to transgender athletes who try to enter the U.S. for competitions. This order, obtained by The Guardian, is particularly harsh as it could even place a lifetime ban on these athletes should their passport or visa information list their gender as something different than what they were assigned at birth.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is attempting to claim that this would be considered fraud. “In cases where applicants are suspected of misrepresenting their purpose of travel or sex, you should consider whether this misrepresentation is material such that it supports an ineligibility finding,” reads the directive. This development comes after Trump’s executive order banning transgender girls and women from competing in athletic for girls and women. Specifically referring to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the president announced that he would direct Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to reject “any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying themselves as women athletes."
It is unclear how many international transgender athletes are slated to attend the Olympics. The International Olympics Committee has allowed transgender people to participate in the games since 2004, and when similar pressure was mounting in 2021, the committee issued a statement showing their support for the LGBTQ+ community. “The IOC will not discriminate against an athlete who has qualified through their [International Federation], on the basis of their gender identity and/or sex characteristics,” their website states.
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