15 hours Ago
The move is the result of a settlement with the US Department of Education following a federal civil rights investigation. The case revolved around Thomas, who took hormones and underwent hormone replacement therapy in 2019. She became the first trans athlete to claim an NCAA D1 title in 2022. Thomas also had five records at UPenn for women’s swimming events, the 500-metre and 100-metre freestyle among them.
New Rules and Reactions
UPenn President Larry Jameson acknowledged that some athletes may have faced a disadvantage under the rules at the time. “We understand that and are sorry to those of us who may have been at a competitive disadvantage, or even worse, suffer some anxiety, as a result of the policies that were in place at that game,” he said.
The school will update its women’s swimming records to reflect new NCAA guidelines, which would limit competition to only those born female. UPenn later took Thomas off its list of “All-Time School Records,” with an asterisk noting that “records were set under rules that existed during the 2021-22 season.”
Federal Action and Growing Debate
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found in April that UPenn violated Title IX “by permitting male student athletes to compete against female student athletes in head-to-head competitions and mixed-team competitions.” US Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the resolution “a great victory for women and girls” and congratulated the university for acknowledging what she called past harms.
It is the latest step in a larger trend elsewhere in the United States to restrict trans athletes’ participation in sports. Policies and legal actions have ramped up since Trump won a second term in January. A new poll shows that 79 percent of Americans believe trans women should not be allowed to play female sports, compared with 62 percent in 2021.
LGBTQ activist organizations such as Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD have not yet responded to UPenn’s decision.
