Breaking: Penn reverses trans athlete policy, will restore records to female swimmers

The University of Pennsylvania has reversed its policies allowing transgender athletes in women’s sports to resolve a federal civil rights case against it.

The case stemmed from swimmer William “Lia” Thomas, who became the first biological male to win a women’s Division I title in 2022. His victory sparked the advocacy of Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas and has become a spokeswoman for preserving women’s sports.

As part of the voluntary settlement agreement, the Philadelphia Ivy League school will restore all individual Division I swimming records and titles to female athletes who lost out to Thomas, and send each of them an apology letter. 

The U.S. Department of Education, which announced the agreement, is seeking similar actions from California, which it found last week in violation of female athletes’ rights of non-discrimination. 

The agreement, and investigations into states such as California and Maine, are part of Trump’s promises to remove males from girls and women’s sports.

“The Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX’s proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a release. 

The department began its investigation in February, after Trump signed an executive order prohibiting males from female sports. It concluded in April Penn was in violation. The school could have fought the findings in court, the Associated Press reports, but that could have opened opportunities to cut the school’s federal funding – something Trump has threatened for states and schools that don’t comply with the ban. 

Gaines praised the administration’s efforts. 

“From day one, President Trump and Secretary McMahon vowed to protect women and girls, and today’s agreement with UPenn is a historic display of that promise being fulfilled,” she said in a release announcing the agreement. “This Administration does not just pay lip service to women’s equality: it vigorously insists on that equality being upheld. 

“It is my hope that today demonstrates to educational institutions that they will no longer be allowed to trample upon women’s civil rights, and renews hope in every female athlete that their country’s highest leadership will not relent until they have the dignity, safety, and fairness they deserve.”