By Apps Support John Power
A top university in the United States has agreed to bar transgender athletes from women鈥檚 sports and erase records set by a prominent trans swimmer following pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump.
The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and the US Department of Education announced the agreement on Tuesday to resolve a federal civil rights investigation focused on transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
Thomas, who was born male and came out as a trans woman in 2018, won a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I title in 2022, becoming the first trans athlete to accomplish the feat.
Thomas, who began hormone replacement therapy in 2019 as part of the transition from male to female, also set UPenn records in five women鈥檚 events, including the 100-metre and 500-metre freestyle competitions.
Thomas鈥檚 accomplishments became a focal point in the debate about fairness in sport, with LGBTQ campaigners hailing the swimmer鈥檚 participation as a victory for inclusion and critics, including some of Thomas鈥檚 teammates, casting it as an attack on women鈥檚 rights.
Larry Jameson, UPenn鈥檚 president, said in a statement that the university recognised that some student athletes had been disadvantaged by the NCAA eligibility rules that had been in place at the time of Thomas鈥檚 participation.
The NCAA changed its eligibility rules to limit participation in women鈥檚 events to female-born athletes in March, following Trump鈥檚 executive order denying funding to educational institutions that allow trans girls and women to compete.
鈥淲e recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time,鈥 Jameson said.
鈥淲e will review and update the Penn women鈥檚 swimming records set during that season to indicate who would now hold the records under current eligibility guidelines.鈥
UPenn later on Tuesday removed Thomas from its website鈥檚 list of 鈥淎ll-Time School Records鈥, and added a note stating that Thomas set records during the 2021-22 season under 鈥渆ligibility rules in effect at the time鈥.
UPenn鈥檚 move comes after the Education Department鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights in April announced that it had determined the university to have violated Title IX by 鈥減ermitting males to compete in women鈥檚 intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities鈥.
US Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the agreement a 鈥済reat victory for women and girls鈥.
鈥淭he Department commends UPenn for rectifying its past harms against women and girls, and we will continue to fight relentlessly to restore Title IX鈥檚 proper application and enforce it to the fullest extent of the law,鈥 McMahon said in a statement.
Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD, two of the biggest LGBTQ advocacy organisations in the US, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
UPenn鈥檚 announcement is the latest in a series of moves to limit trans people鈥檚 participation in sport in the US and elsewhere since Trump returned to the White House in January.
In March, World Athletics said it would require participants in women鈥檚 events to undergo DNA testing to prove their biological sex.
Opinion polls have pointed to growing public opposition to trans women and girls competing against female-born athletes.
In a New York Times/Ipsos poll published in January, 79 percent of Americans said that trans women should be barred from female sports, up from 62 percent in 2021.