Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, signed June 23, 1972, says no person may be excluded from, denied the benefits of, or discriminated against in any federally funded education program on the basis of sex. It covers nearly all public schools and colleges and most private colleges. It was championed by Representative Patsy Mink of Hawaii and Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana, and it is now officially named for Mink.

Title IX is best known for athletics. Girls' participation in high school sports rose from about 300,000 in 1972 to more than 3 million today, and schools must offer women fair opportunities, scholarships, and treatment. It also requires schools to respond to sexual harassment and assault, and the Education Department's rules on how schools investigate complaints have changed with each administration, in 2011, 2020, and 2024. A court struck down the 2024 rule, which had added gender identity protections, in January 2025.

In 2025 an executive order directed agencies to bar transgender girls and women from female sports, and the Education Department opened investigations of schools and states. In June 2026, in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, the Supreme Court upheld state laws limiting girls' and women's teams to students born female. Supporters say these rules protect fairness and safety for women athletes. Opponents say they exclude transgender students from school life and invite intrusive scrutiny.