Democrats and LGBTQ+ advocates in New Jersey are gearing up for a legal fight in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump that threatens to pull education funding from schools that allow transgender athletes to play on women’s sports teams.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, the state’s governing body for high school sports, said during an executive committee meeting last month that it would not change its policy that allows high school athletes to play on the team matching their gender identity, which mirrors state policy.
The Trump administration has already targeted other states and athletic associations for failing to comply with the president’s orders on transgender student-athletes. Democratic lawmakers, officials and LGBTQ+ advocates in New Jersey are now contending with the possibility that standing up against the executive order could lead to federal funding cuts for schools.
“I’m not surprised that the broader state institution is standing firm on this idea that every child should be able to go to school and to be respected and safe in the schools that they attend,” New Jersey Democratic Rep. Herb Conaway told NOTUS. “I’m certainly concerned about that, whether there will be some additional challenges to our state related to this.”
Conaway said his worries about potential funding consequences are underscored by what he called a “broad attack” against school funding that the Trump administration has undertaken over the last month.
The Education Department announced investigations related to transgender athlete policies last month against two universities. Similar funding reviews and investigations are likely to be launched against entities that receive federal funding in Maine — whose Democratic Gov. Janet Mills sparred with Trump last month over transgender athlete policy — and in Philadelphia, where the city’s public school district said it will not comply with the executive order. It’s estimated that less than 1% of high school student-athletes around the country are transgender.
In addition to issuing the executive order on transgender athletes, which says the federal government will “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities,” Trump has also taken executive actions promising to defund state and local education agencies that don’t roll back diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policies. Another order will strip funds from federally funded entities that “promote gender ideology.” In that order, the administration directs the federal government to rescind a document about supporting transgender youth in schools, among other measures.
New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim declined to comment on the particulars of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association situation, telling NOTUS he needed to learn more. But he did express worry about the administration’s sweeping attempts to roll back opportunities for transgender student-athletes.
“It’s obviously a very complicated issue for a lot, and the Trump administration’s actions haven’t left room for more wholesome debate about it,” Kim said.
In fiscal year 2021, New Jersey received approximately $1.9 million in federal revenue for its public elementary and secondary schools. The bulk of New Jersey’s school funding comes from property taxes and parent contributions, and it is among the lowest in the nation for per-pupil federal education spending.
This puts the state in a “relatively good position” even amid the threat of funding rollbacks, said Aaron Potenza, who chaired New Jersey’s transgender equality task force and is a policy consultant with Garden State Equality, the state’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.
But the federal funding that New Jersey receives primarily goes toward services for students with disabilities, English language learners and other underserved groups, Potenza added — creating potentially dire consequences if the education department does strip the state’s schools of funding.
New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver echoed that sentiment. She said she thinks the sports governing body’s decision to maintain its policy on transgender student-athletes comes from a decision to not “comply based off a sense of hatefulness.” But she told NOTUS she’s “very worried” about the possibility of losing education funding.
“Our attorney general has been on the front lines fighting back against these hateful policies, and so I hope that we continue to do so,” she said.
The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General declined to comment. The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association and the New Jersey Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment from NOTUS by publication time.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association is not an official state government entity, although the state’s guidance for transgender student-athletes is in line with the sports governing body’s policy. The Trump administration could target the association directly over its policy on trans athletes.
Julie Hartman, spokesperson for the federal Education Department, said in a statement to NOTUS that the Office of Civil Rights “is and will continue to actively investigate entities which violate federal antidiscrimination law.”
The Office of Civil Rights “directed investigations of educational institutions, school districts, and athletic associations make clear that the Trump Department of Education will not allow recipients of federal funding to violate Title IX by allowing men to compete in women’s sports,” the statement said.
The Trump Education Department has targeted entities similar to the New Jersey athletic association. The Office of Civil Rights launched Title IX investigations against the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation.
Meanwhile, Congress is pushing to bar transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports at federally funded institutions. House lawmakers passed a bill for that in January, but it failed a test vote in the Senate on Monday.
Some optimism remains among advocates in New Jersey, however. Amid concerns about education funding, advocates said they think New Jersey will maintain its record as a state with robust protections for LGBTQ+ residents, including students.
“What undergirds all of this, which is the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, will be upheld,” Potenza said, pointing to the state’s heavily Democratic legislature. “We have to fight for the rights of all students, and that includes transgender students.”
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Shifra Dayak is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.