The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) lowered the boom on the University of Pennsylvania, ruling that the school violated Title IX of the Civil Rights Act by allowing men to compete in women's sports and share female-only facilities.
UPenn allowed transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete as a female despite him being biologically male during the 2021-22 season. OCR ordered the school to "resolve the Title IX violations" in the next ten days or face a potential referral to the Justice Department.
In addition, OCR ordered the school to issue "a university-wide statement affirming its compliance with Title IX, restore all 'misappropriated' awards and records to female swimmers, and send an apology letter to each affected female athlete," reports the Washington Free Beacon.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement, "Little girls who look up to Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan can find hope in today’s action – the Trump Administration will not allow male athletes to invade female private spaces or compete in female categories."
"UPenn has a choice to make: do the right thing for its female students and come into full compliance with Title IX immediately or continue to advance an extremist political project that violates federal antidiscrimination law and puts UPenn’s federal funding at risk."
The university faced backlash in 2022 when it allowed swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological man, to compete on the women's team and use women's locker rooms. Thomas went on to win the NCAA championship in the women's 500-yard freestyle and tie for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle, alongside Gaines, then a swimmer for the University of Kentucky.
More than a dozen female athletes, including Gaines, filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in 2024, arguing that the inclusion of biological men in women's sports violates Title IX.
Three Penn swimmers who competed against Thomas also sued the university. One of the plaintiffs, Margot Kaczorowski, said she was "thrilled to see that there are finally people in positions of power willing to support and protect women."
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There's a long way to go in this fight, and international sports federations, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC), are not helping.
The IOC has left the eligibility of transgender athletes to individual sports federations. It's the coward's way out and does nothing to protect the integrity of sports.
"This Framework recognizes both the need to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their gender identity or sex variations, can practice sport in a safe, harassment-free environment that recognizes and respects their needs and identities," the committee said.
It also recognizes that the elitist snobs on the IOC are incapable of standing against the bullies in the trans lobby. By leaving the decision on whether biological men can compete against women in the hands of international sports federations, you guarantee a degree of unfairness to women.
The University of Pennsylvania is to be humiliated by being forced to apologize to the school and to individual athletes, as well as being forced to return Lia Thomas's awards to be given to women. I think the OCR is deliberately trying to get the school to reject a settlement offer and is daring OCR to refer the matter to the Department of Justice.
If so, like other academic institutions that think they can play the administration, they are playing with fire.
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