When USA Rugby (USAR) updated its eligibility requirements in February to ban trans women from competing, many players and fans were outraged. Within days, 300 people from around the country were on a call to discuss next steps. Dozens of teams posted messages on their social media accounts announcing their intention not to play without their trans teammates. A fund was even started to support affected players who wanted to pursue legal action.

The trans-exclusionary policy hit especially hard in a sport that’s one of the queerest and most gender-inclusive, where the guiding principle is “every body is a rugby body”, said Cameron Michels, a PhD student whose research focuses on queer and trans players’ experiences in women’s rugby.

“In the US, no one has cared about women’s rugby enough to hold cultural boundaries around femininity and performance, so it’s been perceived and experienced as a countercultural, queer space,” Michels said.

The new USAR criteria fall in line with recent policy updates from a swath of other national governing bodies in sports, including USA Hockey, USA Fencing and USA Climbing, which were precipitated by bans from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, citing Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order for “keeping men out of women’s sports”.

While most trans-exclusionary policies in sports face opposition, advocates say that no sport has seen the immediate, collective cry of resistance that US women’s rugby has in the aftermath of its ban. Rugby for All – a grassroots group of women’s rugby players who came together in 2020, when World Rugby became the first international federation to ban trans women – is leading the charge to ensure the sport keeps its culture inclusive. From educating through social media, to hosting virtual meetings, to having conversations with USAR itself, Rugby for All is doing all it can to keep rugby a welcoming space.