April 4 (UPI) — A new Title IX Special Investigations team will focus on enforcing President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender women from competing on female sports teams and using restrooms designated for women.
Justice Department and the Department of Education will work together “to apply a rapid resolution investigation process to the increasing volume of Title IX cases,” according to a joint news release Friday.
Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education, was enacted in 1972.
On Feb. 5, Trump signed an executive order called Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports. On his first day in office on Jan. 20, he signed an order recognizing two sexes as biological male and female.
The investigations are designed to be fully “prepared for ultimate Justice Department enforcement,” the release said.
“Protecting women and women’s sports is a key priority for this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. “This collaborative effort with the Department of Education will enable our attorneys to take comprehensive action when women’s sports or spaces are threatened and use the full power of the law to remedy any violation of women’s civil rights.”
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said: “Today’s establishment of the Title IX SIT will benefit women and girls across this nation who have been subjected to discrimination and indignity in their educational activities. From day one, the Trump administration has prioritized enforcing Title IX to protect female students and athletes.
She noted her agency’s Office for Civil Rights can take years to complete Title IX investigations.
McMahon warned violators that “there’s a new sheriff in town. We will not allow you to get away with denying women’s civil rights any longer.”
On March 24, the Department of Education said it would investigate a biological male competing against females and using a girls locker room while girls were changing clothing in Portland, Ore.
The LGBTQ advocacy group GLADD called the team “a baseball plan with the potential to waste untold taxpayer resources to pursue an unhinged agenda of animus,” according to a spokesperson.
“Targeting a handful of athletes does nothing to protect women and girls,” he told NBC News.” “In fact, these bans endanger all girls as they risk invasive genital exams and other expensive ‘verification.’ “
About 1.3 million adults and 300,000 youth ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender out of 330 million people, according to a report published by Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA’s Law School in 2022.
Trans people appear to have no advantage in sports, according to an October 2023 review of 2017 research published in the journal Sports Medicine.
Fewer than 40 of the NCAA’s more than 500,000 athletes are known to be transgender, said Anna Baeth, director of research at Athlete Ally, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ equality in sports.
On March 17, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School are each in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and its HHS implementing regulation.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture paused an undisclosed amount of federal funds for certain Maine educational programs in response to the state’s opposition to banning transgender females from competing in women’s sports in Maine.
The funding won’t affect federal feeding programs or direct assistance to citizens.
At a meeting of governors at the White House on Feb. 21, Trump singled out Maine Gov. Janet Mills for not conforming to the executive order.
“We’re going to follow the law, sir. We’ll see you in court,” Mills said to the president, referencing the Maine Human Rights Act. This law, amended four years prior, includes gender identity as a protected class.
Transgender athletes are allowed to compete in the Olympics if they meet the eligibility criteria set by their sport’s International Federation.
The NCAA’s Board of Governors after the executive order revised the association’s sports participation policies to ban biological males from competing in NCAA-sanctioned women’s college sports.
On March 19 Trump administration withheld $175 million to the University of Pennsylvania because the school allows biological males to compete in women’s sports.
Before Trump took office, in August 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear arguments regarding stays of federal Title IX changes made by the Biden-Harris administration to protect LGBTQ students that 10 states successfully challenged in federal courts.
Those provisions include defining sex discrimination based on “sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity,” the Supreme Court said in an unsigned denial.
Education grants ban upheld
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to freeze $65 million in grants for two programs involving teacher training and professional development but they’re linked to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Chief Justice John Roberts and three liberal justices dissented.
The order stayed pending a disposition of the appeal in the First District in the Northeast. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun, appointed by President Joe Biden, issued a ruling in Massachusetts that the grants should be reinstated until April 17, and the circuit court didn’t pause the order. The suit was filed by eight states.
In February, the Department of Education said it eliminated 104 of 109 grants because they “fund discriminatory practices, including in the form of DEA.”
