The Trump administration has suspended $175 million in federal funds at the University of Pennsylvania as punishment for allowing transgender Swimmeria Thomas to compete in 2022.
Thomas was originally competing in the men’s swimming team, but after her transition she competed in the women’s team.
She adhered to how NCAA regulations regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes were then and received hormone therapy before competing.
In 2022, Thomas broke schools and began to encounter records, becoming the first transgender woman to win an NCAA Swimming Championship medal at the Division I Women’s 500-yard freestyle event.
She also finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle – tied with Riley Gaines. Riley Gaines praised Thomas’ anger over his participation in becoming an anti-transgender activist.
Since taking office, President Trump has directed the Department of Education to investigate schools that allow (or allow) trans athletes to compete with sports teams based on their gender identity.
Trump has pledged to investigate certain universities with known cases of trans athletes, signing an executive order banning transgender women from competing in girls and women’s sports. The order also threatens to remove funds from schools that allow trans athletes to participate in women-designated sports teams.
After that, the Ministry of Education announcement Last month, we launched an investigation into UPEN, banning title violations of Title IX, federal laws that prohibit gender in agencies receiving federal law’s educational activities and federal funds.
It also launched a review of San Jose State, where trans athletes allegedly were allowed to be allowed on women’s volleyball teams last fall, and the Massachusetts Interstate Association’s Athletics Association, which allows trans competitors to compete with teams that are consistent with their gender identity.

High-ranking White House officials have been confirmed NBC News The agency has suspended UPenn funding, which came from the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services, particularly for Thomas’ participation in 2022.
Officials who accused the school of calling Thomas a man and allowing women to use locker rooms, said they were not the result of an investigation launched by the Department of Education, but instead claimed that the funds were suspended as part of another review of discretionary federal money to go to university.
However, NBC notes that funds are unlikely to be frozen unless the school is found to have violated Title IX as part of its investigation.
A university spokesperson said Associated Press Failure to receive notifications or details regarding frozen funds.
“However, it is important to note that Penn always follows the NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation in athletic teams,” spokesman Ron Ozio told the press. “We have been in the past and are fully compliant with regulations that apply not only to Penn, but also to all NCAA and Ivy League peer agencies.”
Also note that Upenn changes its Transgender Athlete participation policy to comply with the NCAA. Under the current NCAA policy, transgender women are limited to competing in male women or “open” gender events, but cannot practice but cannot compete with cisgender women only.

So the Trump administration is even more wary that Upenn is being retroactively punished as the Trump administration effectively punishes and seeks to punish other universities for actions taken before Trump took office, which was compliant with federal law and NCAA policies at the time.
Conservatives argue that it is inherently unfair to allow transgender women to participate in female-designated events, as male adolescent individuals retain biological and physiological benefits over their cisgender competitors. Like Trump, they also argue that trans athletes can compete as women violate the spirit of Title IX, which is believed to have expanded women’s movement and academic opportunities.
Three former Upenn swimmers submitted last month Litigation Last month, they accused Upenn, Harvard University, The Ivy League and the NCAA of violating Title IX by allowing Thomas to participate in the Ivy League Championships.
Trump’s order to ban trans-athletes from participating in sports is one of many actions he took to limit transgender rights.
He also stipulated that the US government recognizes only two genders that have been fixed from birth. Other executive orders include restricting access to gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19 and prohibiting transgender people from continuing to serve the military. Both of these orders have been temporarily blocked by federal courts.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com