UPenn to ban trans athletes after swimmer probe
The University of Pennsylvania has agreed to prevent transgender athletes from participating in female sports after a federal survey of civil rights from the swimmer Lia Thomas.
The American Department of Education announced the agreement, claiming that the Ivy League institution would apologize and restore titles and recordings to female athletes which were “diverted by male athletes”.
The University said that it would update its files during the 2021-222 season to “indicate who now has the records under current eligibility guidelines”, but it did not say if Thomas’ files would be erased.
Thomas became the first Trans athlete to win the highest title of the American National College in March 2022.
The agreement marks the latest development of President Donald Trump’s repression against transgender athletes participating in sports. He signed a few days from management after his entry into office which sought to prevent transgender women from participating in women’s sports categories.
The University was one of several that its administration opened surveys on possible violations of title IX, a 1972 law on civil rights which prohibits discrimination based on sex in any program or educational activity which receives federal funding.
Two months later, the Trump administration interrupted $ 175 million (127 million pounds sterling) in federal funding at the college for its transgender athlete policy.
Under Tuesday’s agreement, the university must stick to the “definitions based on biology” of man and women, in accordance with the decrees of the president, said the Department of Education.
The Secretary in the United States of Education, Linda McMahon, said in a statement: “Today’s resolution agreement with Upenn is another example of the Trump effect in action.
“Thanks to the management of President Trump, Upenn agreed both to apologize for his past violations of the title IX and to ensure that female sports are protected at university for future generations of female athletes.”
The University of Pennsylvania said that its previous policies were in accordance with the eligibility criteria of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the time, but “we recognize that some students-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules”.
“We recognize this and we will apologize to those who have experienced competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety due to the policies in force at the time,” said a statement on his website.
Change at school occurs years after Thomas competed in Upenn – first with the school’s men’s team for three seasons before starting replacement hormone therapy in spring 2019.
In competition on the women’s swimming team in 2022, Thomas broke academic swimming records, displaying the fastest times of any swimmer. She has since graduated and no longer contributes to the university.
She also noted that the transgender population of university athletes is “very small”. The NCAA said that it represented around 10 athletes.
“The biggest false idea, I think, is the reason why I made the transition,” Thomas told ABC and ESPN in 2022. “People will say:” Oh, she has just passed so that she has an advantage, so that she can win. “I went to be happy, to be faithful to myself.”
Last year, Thomas brought a legal action in order to compete again in female elite sports, but the sporting court in Switzerland rejected the case.
He came two years after the Corpalélect World Aquatics voted to prohibit transgender women from these events if they have undergone part of the male puberty process.
The human rights campaign, the largest political group group for LGBT rights in the United States, has published a statement criticizing the agreement.
“The American people deserves a white house that focuses on the laser to make sure that each student prosperous,” said spokesman Brandon Wolf.
“Instead, this administration is obsessed with the lives of the harsher young people and the transgender scapegoats so that they can attack independent institutions.”
