The act has been used in recent years to advocate for transgender student athletes According to the National Federation for High School Sports, as many as 43 percent of high school athletes are women. Since the enactment of Title IX in the 1970s, more women have chosen to take part in high school sports, with their numbers growing from fewer than 300,000 in the early 1970s to approximately 3.5 million students in the 2018-2019 school year (the last full year for which there is data). For Title IX’s 50th anniversary, here are five notable ways in which the law has transformed school athletics :įemales’ participation in sports has grown. Now, it’s cutting into new territory as a vehicle for guaranteeing transgender students’ a place on athletic teams that match their gender orientation.
While the act applied to all educational programs, it pioneered massive changes when it came to women’s participation in high school, college, and by extension, professional athletics. The civil rights law’s aim was broad: ban discrimination based on sex when it comes to “any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Fifty years ago today, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, was signed into law by President Richard Nixon.
