The University of Pennsylvania has decided to ban the participation of trans athletes in their female competitions after signing an agreement with the US Department of Education. The measure was announced on Tuesday (1st) and meets a federal determination of the government of President Donald Trump that aims to prevent possible violations of the rights of women’s athletes. The information is from Associated Press (AP).
The decision is a direct response to the case involving Lia Thomas, a trans athlete who competed in a female tournament representing the university in 2022. That year, Thomas won the national university title in swimming, surpassing athletes biological women and causing great repercussion in American women’s sport.
After months of investigation, the Department of Education, now under leadership of the Trump administration, concluded that the University of Pennsylvania violated the title IX – a law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions – by accepting that Thomas represents the university in women’s competitions. As part of the agreement to end the process that was opened, the university agreed to return titles and records to biological women athletes who were “harmed” by Thomas’s presence, as well as sending letters to each of them.
It was also determined that the university should adopt criteria “based on biology” to separate male and female teams, preventing trans athletes from competing women’s competitions.
In an official note, US Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, said that “the department congratulates the University of Pennsylvania for correcting its past mistakes against women and girls, and we will continue to fight tirelessly to restore the correct application of title IX and enforce the law in its entirety.”
