The Trump administration announced the formation of a special investigative unit to review possible violations of Title IX, responding to the “staggering volume” of complaints about biological males in female facilities, activities and sports.
The Title IX Special Investigations Team, a project of the Education and Justice departments, seeks to speed up the resolution of cases regarding possible violations of Title IX, the 1972 federal law barring sex discrimination in education.
“Protecting women and women’s sports is a key priority for this Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “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.”
The Trump administration says it has been inundated with formal complaints filed primarily with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights requesting investigations into universities, school districts and scholastic athletic associations with policies allowing transgender students to access girls’ and women’s spaces.
The deluge came after the Department of Education scrapped the Biden administration’s rule adding “gender identity” to Title IX, responding to President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order declaring that the federal government recognizes two sexes, male and female.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the investigative team will enable the department to resolve more quickly the Title IX complaints, which have traditionally taken months or even years to complete.
“To all the entities that continue to allow men to compete in women’s sports and use women’s intimate facilities: there’s a new sheriff in town,” Ms. McMahon said. “We will not allow you to get away with denying women’s civil rights any longer.”
The team will include a “specialized team of investigators” from both departments, including the investigators and attorneys from the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Examples of recent Title IX complaints include one filed Thursday by the Alliance Defending Freedom against the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association, which allows male-born athletes to compete in girls’ sports based on gender identity.
Under the policy, a transgender runner at East Valley High School in Spokane captured the state championship last year in the girls’ 400-meter race. The runner, identified in news reports as Veronica Garcia, is on pace to win the championship again this year.
“Since beginning to compete in the female category for high school track, this athlete has placed first in every 400-meter race in which the athlete has competed, according to the results shown on Athletic.net,” the complaint said. “This athlete competed on the East Valley High School boys’ track and field team before joining the girls’ team.”
Kora Lengerich, one of two female students listed in the complaints, placed fourth last month in the girls’ 400-meter race, but would have taken third and earned a podium spot had the transgender athlete not claimed victory.
“The WIAA policy and Washington’s interpretation of its non-discrimination statutes not only fail to protect a designated category in school sports for females but place no physical limitations on when a biologically male student can compete in the female category,” the complaint said. “This runs afoul of Title IX’s requirements by depriving female students of equal opportunity to compete and win in their own sports because of their sex.”
How is this fair @chrisreykdal?
East Valley’s Véronica Garcia (a male) sprints toward victory in the girls 400-meter run on May 25 at the State 2A track and field championships at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. pic.twitter.com/F12Q0jVpLG
— Seattle Dad (@TheNewzFeed) February 22, 2025
Advocates for transgender rights have accused the Trump administration of seeking to “erase” transgender people from public life by preventing them from accessing facilities and playing sports based on their gender identity versus sex.
Chase Strangio, the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project co-director, said the president is “lying” about biological males in female sports. The ACLU has long insisted that “trans women are women” and should be viewed no differently than biological women.
“The policies that are claiming that transgender women in sports are men are wrong,” Mr. Strangio, who was born female and identifies as a man, said last month on PBS. “The president is lying when he says that there are men impersonating women and participating in women’s sports. There are no examples of men impersonating women that I’m aware of.”
