UPenn agrees to ban transgender women from women's athletics teams, resolving Lia Thomas civil rights case

Yahoo

17 hours ago

Lia Thomas was the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title in 2022. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, File)
The U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday that the University of Pennsylvania has agreed to ban transgender women from its women's athletics teams to resolve a federal civil rights case that determined the school violated Title IX.
Title IX is a 1972 law that prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving federal financial aid.
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Penn's violation resulted from the university allowing "allowing a male to compete in female athletic programs and occupy female-only intimate facilities," according to the Department's news release.
The case centered around Lia Thomas, the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title. Thomas, who won the women's 500-yard freestyle championship in 2022, last competed for Penn that same year.
Thomas first competed on the Penn men's team before transitioning. After undergoing testosterone suppression therapy for more than two years, she met NCAA standards to compete as a woman. Before claiming a national title, she also broke two school records and posted the fastest times in the country in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events.
But now, more than three years later, the university has agreed to restore all individual UPenn women's swimming records and titles of female athletes Thomas defeated or surpassed, the Department said.
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Additionally, Penn agreed to send personalized apology letters to each impacted female swimmer. Plus, according to the Department's release, the university will issue a public statement to the Penn community, noting that Penn will adopt "biology-based definitions" of the words "male" and "female."
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon called Tuesday's news a "great victory for women and girls."
"Today's resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action," McMahon said in a statement. "Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women's sports are protected at the University for future generations of female athletes."
Following President Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order in February, the Trump Administration's Office for Civil Rights opened the Title IX investigation into Penn for allowing Thomas a roster spot on its women's swimming and diving team. In late April, the Office for Civil Rights found in its investigation that Penn violated Title IX.
Had Penn not signed the proposed resolution agreement, it would have jeopardized its federal funding, risking referral to the U.S. Department of Justice for enforcement proceedings.