Military funding bill includes trans sports bans in military academies, is set to pass

by Jane Migliara Brigham

Earlier tonight, the text of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2026 was published, containing among other things a ban on trans women in sports within United States Military Academies.

It would accomplish this by explicitly limiting the ability of people born as men to participate in any sporting activities associated with women.  More concerningly, it does this by explicitly defining the categories of man and women based on what sex a person was assigned at birth.

The current version of the bill is the result of ongoing negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, and the bill is currently in conference, meaning that it is highly likely to become law with the sports ban in place.

Quoting from pages 385-386 of the document:

SEC. 559

A. PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION OF MALES IN ATHLETIC PROGRAMS OR ACTIVITIES AT THE MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMIES THAT ARE DESIGNATED FOR WOMEN OR GIRLS

(a) IN GENERAL .—The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Air Force Academy do not permit a person enrolled at such an Academy whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.

(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, or the United States Air Force Academy from permitting males to train or practice with an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls so long as no female is deprived of a roster spot on a team or sport, opportunity to participate in a practice or competition, scholarship, admission to an educational institution, or any other benefit that accompanies participating in the athletic program or activity.

(c) DEFINITIONS .—In this section—

(1) the term ‘‘athletic programs and activities’’ includes all programs or activities that are provided conditional upon participation with any athletic team; and

(2) the term ‘‘sex’’ means a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth. 

This ban would include several milestones for anti-trans legislators at the federal level.  It would be both the first trans sports ban to apply to the whole country, and would also be the first piece of federal legislation to assert that sex is an immutable characteristic that cannot be changed from the time of one’s birth.  That definition was established in the executive branch on the first day of the second Trump presidency, but the definition has not been adopted by Congress until now.

The ban is likely a result of a compromise between Democrats and Republicans, as Republicans had been fighting for a version of the NDAA which included a ban on transsexual medicine and other trans-related services from TRICARE, the health care plan for military members and their families.  

The ban is notable in that it might not actively prevent anyone from accessing sports, as an Executive Order signed last year effectively banned trans people from the military, and the few that are left are being squeezed out through ritualized humiliation.  Given this background, it is doubtful that there are any trans people in American military academies who were playing recreational sports on official teams for this ban to affect in the first place.

In light of this, such a provision serves only to demonstrate that those who vote for it are opposed to trans inclusion wherever they can snuff it out.

This is the second year in a row where the NDAA, the bill governing how the military’s budget is spent, has contained riders limiting the rights of transsexuals.  Last year’s NDAA included a provision banning children on TRICARE health plans from accessing transsexual medicine.  That law, signed by Democratic President Joe Biden, was the first federal law to contain anti-queer provisions since 1996.

Thank you to Jael Holzman for alerting me to this story.