The battle over fairness in women’s sports has reached a new legal front, as three former University of Pennsylvania female swimmers have filed a major lawsuit against UPenn, Harvard University, the Ivy League Council of Presidents, and the NCAA—alleging that these institutions violated their Title IX rights by allowing biological men to compete in and dominate women’s swimming.
This lawsuit targets the same system that allowed Lia Thomas, a biological male, to shatter records, take championship titles, and force female athletes into humiliating and emotionally distressing situations—both in competition and in the locker room.
And in a move that marks a turning point in this fight, President Donald Trump has now signed an executive order barring biological men from competing in women’s sports.
Filed on Tuesday by Grace Estabrook, Margo Kaczorowski, and Ellen Holmquist, with support from the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), the lawsuit is seeking damages for “pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, suffering and anxiety” and other costs incurred by what they describe as a clear violation of Title IX.
Title IX, a federal statute meant to protect women’s opportunities in sports, has increasingly been used to justify policies that allow biological men to compete against women—effectively erasing the very protections the law was created to uphold.
These former UPenn swimmers argue that being forced to share a locker room with Thomas, a biological male who had not undergone full gender reassignment, caused repeated emotional trauma.
Competitive swimmers must spend up to 30 minutes getting into their skintight suits, often while completely exposed, and the presence of a male athlete in that space was, they say, a gross violation of privacy and safety.
Their lawsuit reveals the pressure they faced from university administrators:
- Rather than addressing their concerns, UPenn told them to seek counseling and directed them to LGBTQ sensitivity training, as if their discomfort was a mental problem rather than a legitimate issue.
- They were explicitly warned not to speak out—told that if they questioned Thomas’s participation, their “reputation would be tainted with transphobia for the rest of their lives” and they “would probably never be able to get a job.”
The lawsuit doesn’t just go after UPenn—it also targets Harvard University, which hosted the NCAA Women’s Championships where Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, and 400-yard freestyle relay.
The lawsuit argues that Harvard, along with the NCAA, played a role in legitimizing what was blatant discrimination against female athletes.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring biological men from competing in women’s sports—delivering on a campaign promise to restore fairness to women’s athletics.
This move directly counters the left-wing policies of the Biden administration, which had pushed for biological males to compete in female sports under the guise of gender inclusivity—a policy that has ripped away hard-earned opportunities from female athletes across the country.
Trump’s executive order sends a clear message:
- Women’s sports exist to protect female athletes, not to serve as a platform for political activism.
- Title IX will be enforced as it was originally intended—to promote fairness and equal opportunity for women.
- Colleges, universities, and athletic organizations that undermine these principles will no longer receive federal support.
