Trahan co-files bicameral bill to strengthen Title IX

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan joined a group of congressional Democrats this week in introducing a bill aimed at strengthening Title IX protections for K-12 and college athletes.

The Fair Play for Women Act was refiled in the U.S. House and Senate by Trahan, North Carolina Congresswoman Alma Adams and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut Wednesday in the wake of the U.S. Department of Education rescinding Title IX guidance protecting revenue sharing and name, image, likeness payments to women college athletes.

“Despite decades of underinvestment and neglect, women’s sports have surged in popularity, proving what women athletes have always known – there is a massive, untapped audience eager to support them,” Trahan said in a statement Wednesday morning. “The Fair Play for Women Act will build on that momentum by addressing the real barriers still holding women’s sports back: Title IX loopholes that deny thousands of women and girls every day the opportunity to compete and thrive in the sports they love.”

The bill would aim to accomplish three things, the first of which would be to hold schools and athletic associations accountable in cases of discriminatory treatment based on sex, in part by providing a “right of action” for all athletes when making discrimination claims.

The second major item of the bill would be to expand reporting requirements for athletics data from kindergarten to college levels, and to make that data more accessible to the public. It would direct the Department of Education to house the data, and to publish an annual report on gender equity in school-based athletics.

The third major aim of the law is to improve education about Title IX rights among athletes and staff. It would do so by requiring annual training on Title IX rights for all athletes and athletic staff. It would also create a public database of all Title-IX coordinators at all levels of student athletics.

“The real threats to women’s sports are the thousands of Title IX violations happening in schools and on college campuses every day. These loopholes deny one million girls the opportunity to play the sports they love. The Fair Play for Women Act will fix that,” Trahan said in a post about the bill on Bluesky Wednesday afternoon.

Title IX was enacted as a provision of the Education Amendments of 1972, and was primarily created to prohibit sex-based discrimination in academic or athletic programs that receive funding from the federal government.

“For all the progress we’ve made since Title IX, women and girls still don’t get a fair shot when it comes to sports. Schools are spending less on recruiting, facilities, and scholarships for women’s teams, and too many have bent the rules to make their numbers look better than they really are,” Murphy said in a statement Wednesday. “The Fair Play for Women Act would bring real accountability and transparency to college and K-12 sports so all athletes get the support they deserve.”

With a Republican-controlled legislative branch and the Department of Education itself having an uncertain future under the Trump administration, the likelihood of this bill passing and being signed is unclear. The legislation is endorsed by Athlete Ally, the Billie Jean King Foundation, Champion Women, Katie’s Save, the National Organization for Women, the National Women’s Political Caucus, the Drake Group, the Voice in Sport Foundation and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

“The Fair Play for Women Act is a step in the right direction to ensure student-athletes are able to play, compete and lead – in sports and beyond – without barriers,” Women’s Sports Foundation CEO Danette Leighton said in a statement. “For 50 years and counting, the Women’s Sports Foundation has championed a simple message: when girls play, they lead and we all win! That’s why we applaud the introduction of this bill, as it seeks to create a level playing field to allow girls and women to thrive through the transformative power of sports.”

The bill was co-sponsored by Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici and U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Ron Wyden of Oregon.