On March 17, 2022, the Concerned Women for America (CWA) Legislative Action Committee filed a Civil Rights Complaint under Title IX with the U.S. Department of Education against the University of Pennsylvania. The complaint argues that because it allowed a male athlete to compete on a women’s swim team, the school has failed to protect the rights of female athletes under federal law.
In a press release, CWA explained:
UPenn continues to allow male athletes who identify as women to compete in women’s sports. Lia Thomas (formerly Will Thomas), a Division I swimmer who is biologically male but rostered as a senior on UPenn’s women’s team, has competed throughout the season displacing female teammates in events and shattering pool, league, and national records.
Thomas is anatomically and biologically a male with physical capacities that are different from anatomically and biologically female athletes, which extends an unfair advantage and strips female student-athletes of opportunities afforded to them by law. The complaint also cites reports that Thomas’ own teammates have complained about UPenn allowing a hostile environment to fester in its locker room which has put them in apprehension.
Although the complaint centers on the way a male athlete’s inclusion has made a mockery of women’s sport, it makes clear that UPenn’s policy has harmed its female students in a number of ways. Lia Thomas’ participation has robbed female athletes of places on the team, in events, and in setting records, as well as the scholarships and opportunities that go with them. What’s more, the CWA statement alludes to the “hostile environment” in the swim team’s locker room, which female athletes are forced to share with their fully male teammate.
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Forced to speak anonymously for fear of backlash, the mother of an UPenn swimmer described the effects of recent events on her daughter and her teammates. The toll extends far beyond the swimming pool. According to her, the young women and their families were “manipulated, coerced, and emotionally blackmailed” into silence, even when Thomas had total access to the women’s locker rooms and showers.