Washington, D.C. – Today marks 54 years since the passage of Title IX, a landmark law that made it illegal to exclude people from federally-funded educational programs or activities on the basis of their sex. 

Since the first day of the second Trump administration, Donald Trump and his ideological allies have systematically worked to undermine Title IX, and roll back rights and protections for LGBTQIA+ students, women and girls, Black and brown students, and disabled students around the country. 

“After enacted, Title IX transformed what education and athletics looked like for women and girls,” said Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at National Women’s Law Center. “We have come a long way in 54 years, but under the shadow of an administration that is so intent on attacking inclusion and equality on campuses across the nation, including through weaponizing Title IX, this anniversary does not feel like a celebration. The promise of Title IX has been obstructed by an administration that has shown it does not care about women and girls. Instead, it aims to distort the law, including Title IX, to attack and exclude trans students. It seeks to divide us and distract us from the the real issues Title IX was built to address—rampant sexual harassment of students and employees, pregnant students pushed out of school, inequitable resources for women’s sports—as these issues go unchecked by a gutted Department of Education. 

“The antidote to attacks on some of our most vulnerable students is the same as it has always been: a refusal to be turned against each other and to fight together for all of our rights. Over the years, real progress has been made that is worth celebrating, but there is still so much work left to do. And just as a generation of women fought for Title IX protections, we will continue the fight until every student on campus is seen as worthy of equality and protections under the law, exactly as they are.”