USA Rugby creates open divide for trans athletes in response to Trump’s order

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USA Rugby, the governing body of the sport of rugby, announced on Friday that it will introduce a new “open” gender division that will accommodate trans athletes.

The new rule comes more than a year after President Donald Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” and nearly seven months after the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s (USOPC) new requirement that all governing bodies comply.

“USA Rugby will now have three divisions of competition; the Men’s Division, the Women’s Division and the Open Division. The Open Division will allow any athlete, regardless of gender assigned at birth and gender identity, to compete in USA Rugby events, whether full contact or non-contact,” the organization said in a statement.

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Cassidy Bargell of the United States passes the ball during the Women’s Rugby World Cup match against Samoa at the LNER Community Stadium in Monks Cross, York, September 6, 2025. (Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto)

The organization’s policy also appears to allow any hopeful contestants to simply choose their gender when registering, with possible vetting by officials.

“Division status will be determined during the membership application and registration process, when an athlete selects the ‘gender’ option in Rugby Xplorer. When applying for membership or registering as ‘Female’ or registering for an event in the Women’s Division, the athlete represents and warrants to USA Rugby that they are female.”

“This announcement creates a counterintuitive view that the gender of a person identified at birth was female,” said the organization’s policy.

Gabriella Cantorna, Ilona Maher and Emily Henrich of the US before the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup match against Samoa at York Community Stadium on September 6, 2025, in York, England. (Molly Darlington/World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

“The determination that a person is a woman may be established by records from authorized sources. Only USA Rugby shall have the right to contest an individual’s status in the Women’s Division or challenge the assumption of an athlete registered as ‘female.'”

In July, the USOPC updated its athlete safety policy to reflect compliance with Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order.

However, Trump also pushed for mandatory genetic testing of athletes to protect the women’s category at the upcoming Los Angeles 2028 Olympics amid concerns about fake birth certificates allowing natural men to gain access to women’s sports.

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Rugby goal line flag before the game between the United States and Scotland at Audi Field on July 12, 2024, in Washington, DC (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images for Scottish Rugby)

The USOPC’s Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Finnoff, said at a USOPC press conference in October that the SRY gene test used by World Athletics and World Boxing is “rare” in the US but suggested that the USOPC is exploring options for using gender testing options for its teams and that he expects other world governing bodies to “follow suit.”

“It is not very common to get this specific test in the United States, and, therefore, our goal in that was to help identify the labs and options for athletes to be able to get that test. And (it was) based on that experience and knowing that other international organizations will probably follow,” said Finnoff.

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Jackson Thompson is a Fox News Digital sports reporter who covers critical political and cultural issues in sports, through an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the implementation of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Associated Press and ESPN.com.