Over the course of the first week of July 2025, three separate events both portend the restoration of integrity in girls’ and women’s athletics and illustrate the urgency for doing so. While limited on the specific facts to sports, these events have much wider implications for the rise and, hopefully, fall of gender ideology in the United States.
Transgender ideology is not simply about allowing people to express their so-called “gender identity” according to their “lived experience,” as advocates contend. Rather, this movement seeks fundamentally to redefine what it means to be a man or woman — or even a human being. The political, legal and cultural ramifications of transgender ideology are enormous, encompassing all aspects of public life. From primary education to private women’s spaces to religious liberty, transgender ideology poses a threat to multiple institutions. It is not about being “left alone.” It is about imposing a rigid, uncompromising ideology on all of us. And, of course, it is based on the rejection of the fundamental reality that we are created in the image of God as male and female, with immutable biological and physiological differences.
University of Pennsylvania corrects swim records
Probably the most famous case of a man dominating women’s athletics is the case of Will Thomas at the University of Pennsylvania. After an undistinguished three-year swimming career at Penn, Thomas decided he would have better results competing against women. So, after taking a year off, in the 2021-22 season he began to swim on the women’s team, calling himself Lia Thomas. In his last season competing in the proper division, Thomas ranked 65th nationally in the 500-yard freestyle event. Competing against women in 2022, he “won” the NCAA championship in the 500.
Under pressure from the U.S. Department of Education, on July 1, Penn announced that it was removing Thomas’ times and results from its record books, prohibiting men from competing on women’s teams and restoring records to the women Thomas displaced. This was not the result of a change of heart at the University of Pennsylvania. Rather, the Trump administration had withheld tens of millions of dollars in federal grants until the university corrected its records in accord with Title IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Nor does Penn’s correction remedy the injustice of Thomas competing against women. The Ivy League and the NCAA have not yet removed Thomas’ results, which include the 2022 NCAA championship and Ivy League pool records. But it is a start, and it is the important first step in restoring the integrity of girls’ and women’s athletics.
The U.S. Supreme Court tees up the issue
Twenty-seven states have passed legislation that prohibits boys and men from competing against girls and women in any public secondary school or college sports events. On July 3, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review two consolidated cases related to such laws in Idaho and West Virginia. In both cases, lower courts have barred the states from enforcing their laws. Specifically, the Supreme Court agreed to answer two questions: “(1) Whether Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prevents a state from consistently designating girls’ and boys’ sports teams based on biological sex determined at birth; and (2) whether the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment prevents a state from offering separate boys’ and girls’ sports teams based on biological sex determined at birth.”
While the language sounds technical, the issue is very simple: Under the 14th Amendment and Title IX, may states prohibit boys and men from participating in girls’ and women’s sports? From one perspective, the questions presented are somewhat disappointing. The better question would be, “Does Title IX require states to pass laws preventing boys and men from participating in girls’ and women’s sports?” A positive answer to this question would protect girls and women in all 50 states. A good outcome from the actual question will protect states who pass such laws, but not require them to do so. Nonetheless, in the wake of the court’s recent decisions in Skrmetti and Mahmoud, it is hopeful that the court will uphold these state laws under Title IX.
Why it matters
In a prior column, I have noted the athletic performance gap between males and females. The gap ranges from about 10% in running and swimming, to as much as 15% in such events as shot put, discus and javelin. On July 5, two women’s world records fell at a track meet in Eugene, Oregon. Comparing those times to American high school boys’ times illustrates why laws protecting girls’ and women’s sports are so important.
Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon broke the women’s 1,500-meter record, establishing a new standard of 3 minutes and 48.68 seconds. Kipyegon also holds the world mile record, with a time of 4:07.64. These are the best times ever recorded by a female athlete. The respective world records for boys under 18 years old in these events are 3:33.26 and 3:54.56. I use these comparisons to illustrate that high school boys, years away from their peak abilities and performances, are much faster than the very best woman in the world at the peak of her career. In fact, approximately 150 boys have run faster than Kipyegon.
Comparing apples to apples, the men’s world records in the 1,500 and mile are 3:26.00 and 3:43.13. A mile is about 100 meters longer than 1,500 meters. So the men’s world records are approximately the full home-stretch faster than the women’s in both the 1,500 and the mile.
At the same meet in Oregon, Kenyan Beatrice Chebet set a new world record of 13:58.06 for 5,000 meters, becoming the first woman ever to break 14 minutes. Again, the contrasts with boys’ and men’s records are dramatic. The under-18 boys’ world record is 12:54.19, more than a minute faster than Chebet’s time. More than 200 boys have run faster than Chebet. The men’s world record is 12:35.36. This is almost two laps (out of 12.5) faster than Chebet’s record. Approximately 6,500 men have run faster than Chebet’s time of 13:58.06.
The point of these comparisons is not to denigrate the outstanding achievements of Kipyegon and Chebet. Rather, my point is to illustrate the vast gulf between men and women’s athletic abilities. This difference is fixed by the chromosomal, biological and physiological differences between men and women. And the gaps are persistent. As women lower their records, men lower theirs, for a consistent difference of 10% to 15%.
Men and women are equal in dignity but vastly different in biology and physiology. Recent ideological attempts to deny these differences has led to the exclusion of girls and women from athletic opportunities. The U.S. Supreme Court has the ability to slow these attempts, if not yet alleviate them altogether. But it’s a much-needed start.
