The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights ruled Monday that the University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX guarantees against sex discrimination when it allowed a transgender woman to compete on its women’s swimming team.
The university was found to have denied “women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, won the 2022 NCAA championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. The government’s Monday edict did not mention Thomas by name.
The Department of Education gave Penn 10 days to wipe out Thomas’ records. The school also was ordered to ban transgender athletes from women’s teams and issue apology letters to female athletes whose “educational experience in athletics (was) marred by sex discrimination.”
Penn has stated that it complied with all applicable Ivy League and NCAA rules regarding participation in women’s sports.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” on Feb. 5, stating that the administration would halt federal funding to elementary, secondary and post-secondary institutions that permitted transgender girls or women to compete on girls or women’s teams.
The administration also launched Title IX investigations into Penn, San Jose State (which reportedly had a transgender player on its women’s volleyball team last season) and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. A number of other related actions have followed, including the Justice Department suing the state of Maine in an effort to stop transgender participation in girls and women’s sports.
In March, the White House cut off $175 million in federal funds for Penn related to the transgender athlete issue.
–Field Level Media
