As soon as Donald Trump returned to office for his second term, he signed a few executive orders in an attempt to push trans athletes out of female sports. His new policies have significantly affected the livelihood of many transgender sports persons, like CeCé Telfer. In an interview with CNN, Telfer, who is the NCAA’s first transgender national champion, stated that she would like to have a conversation with the president. In particular, she has criticized the U.S. Department of Education’s request for NCAA. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has been asked to erase titles and records held by trans athletes, and many, like Telfer, are not happy with this.
During the CNN interview, CeCé lamented that the current political climate in America is not at all in favor of transgender people. Since January 20, the Trump administration has taken shocking steps to almost eradicate their identities. Telfer stated that before, she only faced opposition, but no, “I wake up every day and I have to make sure that I make it home alive.” She added, “It’s sad to see people go out of their way to say that I don’t belong here.”
The champion athlete is clearly frustrated with the situation but willing to take any step if it means it can be resolved. “I’m willing to sit down with anybody who’s willing to have this conversation, even Trump himself,” Telfer said, “If he wants to sit down with me and talk and have a human conversation and see me.”
She has an interesting offer for Donald Trump that will give the president a rare insight into her life. “If he wants to have a team to go around with me and see my day-to-day life and what I go through as a transgender female athlete, I’m all for it,” Telfer told CNN.
“Each of my identities is a target, especially in America.”
Trans athlete CeCé Telfer tells @AmandaDCNN why she is ready to challenge President Trump’s ban on trans athletes.
Read more: https://t.co/6plAs26e0O pic.twitter.com/fm1FId5wdt
— CNN Sports (@cnnsport) February 18, 2025
In 2019, during her senior year at Franklin Pierce University, CeCé Telfer had an amazing season. She went on to claim All-American honors, multiple Northeast-10 titles in both indoor and outdoor track, and an outdoor national championship in the 400-meter hurdles. However, despite her consistent wins, she was subjected to transphobic remarks from conservatives. According to Outsports, Donald Trump Jr. called her success a “grave injustice” for women.
Now that the Department of Education is asking the NCAA to strip trans athletes of their titles, Telfer is worried about everything she has built so far. Her national championship is also a part of this new order. In addition to this, there’s also a civil lawsuit in action demanding the total ban of trans women athletes from all kinds of sports. However, CeCé emphasized that she was fully eligible for the title in 2019, given NCAA rules at that time. She told CNN, “If somebody is truly education within the Department of Education, they will be educated to know that that’s not how history works. You can’t take back history.”
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While talking about her offer for Trump, the NCAA athlete said, “I need some explanation as to why you want to completely eradicate us from society when we’ve done nothing wrong. Think about the humanity and think about the younger kids like me who have doctors confirming their gender, have people behind them to support them.”
Telfer’s offer for Trump is just an attempt to achieve her longshot dream. She stated despite the ban and everything else, she is still fighting for a policy change. She looks forward to pushing toward earning a berth in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. She attempted to pass the trials back in 2021 but was rejected due to World Athletics regulations. Now, she is willing to connect with governing bodies to have another shot at the Olympics.
