50 years of Title IX: The landmark equality law that changed US women’s sports by accident

The United States is set to mark the 50th anniversary of the landmark law known as Title IX on Thursday. Let’s examine what the law is, why it is important and its transformative impact: When was it signed into law? Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was signed into law by then president Richard M Nixon. What is it? Title IX is a comprehensive federal law that has removed many barriers that once prevented people, on the basis of sex, from participating in educational opportunities and careers of their choice. It states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation, in be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance”. It applies to schools, libraries, museums and other institutions that receive money from the federal Department of Education. What was its impact? Title IX led to a sea change in women’s sports. By accident. As Sports Illustrated notes: “After all, nowhere in the law did the words sport or athletics or even physical education appear.” The law was written and lobbied for as a means to address vast gender inequality and sex discrimination in education, as the piece notes. As U_SA Today_ notes when the law was passed: “Fewer than 300,000 girls played high school sports and 32,000 played in college. The exponential increase in girls’ and women’s participation over the past five decades, and the explosion in popularity of women’s college and professional sports, can be directly linked to the law.” The law has been cited in court cases to defend students from sexual harassment and assault, ensure the rights of transgender students and protect pregnant students from discrimination, the piece notes. Though the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination in federally funded programs – including education – on the basis of race, colour and national origin, sex was not included, which opened the door for Title IX’s passage just two years after Congress held its first hearings on sex discrimination in higher education, as per USA Today. As the Education Department notes: “Some key issue areas in which recipients have Title IX obligations are: recruitment, admissions, and counseling; financial assistance; athletics; sex-based harassment, which encompasses sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence; treatment of pregnant and parenting students; treatment of LGBTQI+ students; discipline; single-sex education; and employment.” ‘Godmother’ of the law As Sports Illustrated notes, in 1969 when Bernice Sandler was told she wouldn’t be hired for a full time-teaching job because she came on “too strong for a woman,” she scoured federal law for some kind of action she could take. Sandler found an executive order from then president Lyndon B. Johnson that disallowed discrimination on the basis of sex for organizations that accepted federal contracts—like, for instance, many universities. Sandler gathered examples of discrimination at institutions across the country and shared her research with Representative Edith Green, a Democrat from Oregon, who held seven days of congressional hearings on sex discrimination in education in 1970. The hearings revealed stories of women who weren’t paid to teach because their husbands got a salary, or who were harassed out of engineering programs, or who were told they were too pretty to take difficult classes. These hearings laid the groundwork for Title IX, and Sandler, who died in 2019, became the law’s “godmother.” Commonly misunderstood The law is commonly misunderstood in part because its application is so broad, said Shiwali Patel, senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center. “I don’t think people really understand the full breadth and scope of Title IX,” she said. “It’s only 37 words long, but it’s extremely broad. It covers so much.” Patel said it’s important to acknowledge Title IX has brought meaningful advancements. More women are getting scholarships, participating in college sports and landing faculty jobs. But there has also been resistance to continued improvement, especially in the fight against sexual harassment and violence, she said. “We are at a moment of real challenge, and we still haven’t gone far enough,” Patel said. Biden administration extends protection to trans students In June 2021, the justice department in a new policy directive said discrimination based on a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity will be treated as a violation of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that protects against sex discrimination in education. Under the federal law, students who face sex discrimination can bring complaints to the Education Department or federal courts. Schools found to have violated Title IX can face a range of penalties as severe as a total loss of federal education funding, although the Education Department has never dealt that punishment. The update drew outrage from conservatives who have pushed to keep transgender girls out of girls’ athletics. Christiana Holcomb, legal counsel for the Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom, called it a “politically motivated change” that effectively rewrites Title IX. “Title IX exists precisely to ensure that women and girls have equal opportunities in education, including in sports,” Holcomb said. “Girls and women deserve better than having their opportunities stripped away in service of harmful ideology.” Democrats and civil rights groups applauded the change, however, saying all students deserve equal protections. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said the department is right to extend the Supreme Court’s ruling to education. “As a result of today’s action, LGBTQ students will have strong and clear legal protections from discrimination in schools, and a safe learning environment,” he said in a statement. With inputs from agencies