Tag Archives: TitleIXTuesday

Guest Post: Heath Hardage Lee

Recently, I read Heath Hardage Lee’s book, The League of Wives, about a group of determined women who forced the American government to bring their POW husbands home from Vietnam. I loved this book! When I saw that Heath had moderated a Title IX panel at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, I asked if she’d share her thoughts. So, here she is on the blog today, and again, I love what she has to say!*

On February 6, 1969, President Richard Nixon faced the second press conference of his new administration. He fielded questions on a wide range of topics from a room packed with reporters. However, when Washington bureau chief for the North American Newspaper Alliance Vera Glaser got her turn, she asked him a question no one had expected.

            “Mr. President, in staffing your administration, you have so far made about 200 high-level Cabinet and other policy position appointments, and only three have gone to women. Can you tell us, sir, whether we can we expect more equitable recognition of women’s abilities, or are we going to remain a lost sex?”

            Glaser’s question became part of the push that the new administration needed to prioritize women’s rights and gender equity. In response to Glaser’s query, the President’s Task Force on Women’s Rights and Responsibilities was rapidly organized. The completed Task Force report, entitled “A Matter of Simple Justice” was sent to the President on December 12, 1969. 

Righting the ratio

            Among the major action items in the Task Force report was this recommendation: “The President should appoint more women to positions of top responsibility in all branches of federal government to achieve a more equitable ratio of men and women.” Barbara Hackman Franklin, one of the first female graduates of Harvard Business School and rising star in the banking world was appointed as Staff Assistant to the President in April 1971. Within this role, Franklin would lead all efforts to fulfill the Task Force recommendation. Her work would prove critical to the success of the administration’s efforts for women. 

            One of the many ripple effects of the Task Force recommendations and Franklin’s work was the proposal of the landmark Education Amendments, primarily authored by Rep. Patsy Mink, and strongly supported by Rep. Edith Green and Sen. Birch Bayh. These amendments include the now famous Title IX. President Nixon signed these amendments into law fifty years ago on June 23, 1972.

            When the final regulations were issued in 1975, Title IX covered women and girls, students and employees, protecting them all from discrimination. This included sexual harassment, admissions policies, basically every aspect of education K-12 for institutions that receive federal funding.

            Today Title IX is most often equated with women’s sports, but it was part of this broader movement towards women’s rights and gender equity across the board that began with Vera Glaser’s question, the Presidential Task Force for Women, and Barbara Hackman Franklin. This potent push meant that equity for women went from an afterthought under previous administrations to high priority under President Nixon.

Hearing from the athletes

            On June 23 of this year, I helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX (renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in 2002) at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. I was honored to set the historical context for the event and interview Barbara Hackman Franklin. Our chat was followed by a panel of outstanding Olympians:  three-time gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings (beach volleyball), four-time gold medalist Janet Evans (distance swimming), and two-time gold medalist Courtney Mathewson (water polo).

            What these young female athletes had to say was heartening. Each of the women noted that they had never felt discriminated against in the sports world due to their gender. Not once had any of them felt the sting of sexism that some of their athlete mothers had warned them about. Thanks to Title IX, all three women had grown up feeling safe, supported and empowered in their respective arenas. These Olympians had never known a world without the benefits and protections of consequential legislation which allowed each of them to soar athletically.

             Thanks to women like Vera Glaser, who asked President Nixon that first question about women’s equality, and Barbara Hackman Franklin, who implemented that first real push for women inside the U.S. government, female athletes today enjoy the same playing field as their male counterparts. They are no longer “the lost sex” in the sports arena.

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* Get to know Heath Lee at her website. https://heathleeauthor.com/

PHOTO (left to right): Kerri Walsh Jennings, Heath Lee, Barbara Hackman Franklin, Janet Evans and Courtney Mathewson.  

Title IX branches out

It took 20 years and the courage of one teenage girl to expand the reach of Title IX into the realm of sexual harassment.

            In 1986, Christine Franklin was a freshman at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia. She had a boyfriend, played in the school band and eagerly accepted an offer from her economics teacher, Andrew Hill, to help him in the classroom, grading tests and running errands.

            She said Hill, who was also the school’s football coach, began bringing up references to sex and questioning her about her sex life. Eventually, he — a married man — called her at home, asking her on a date. Finally, in her sophomore year, she says, he forcibly kissed her in the school parking lot and pressured her into having sex on three occasions.

            Christine and her boyfriend told her band teacher about Hill’s conduct, but she says he advised her to drop the matter. She went to the school’s guidance counselor, who she says also downplayed her claim, although the school did open an investigation.

Skipping over the school

            Hill resigned in 1988, citing the football team’s poor performance. But that wasn’t enough for Christine. She filed a complaint with the federal Office of Civil Rights, which oversees Title IX. OCR ordered the school to create procedures for reporting sexual harassment. Still, Christine went on, bringing a $6 million lawsuit in U.S. district court against the school district, saying it failed to protect her from Hill, in violation of Title IX.

            This wasn’t the first time Title IX had been applied to sexual harassment in a lawsuit, but none so far had been successful. And it was the first time compensation was attached to a Title IX claim.

            With Hill gone, and reporting procedures in place, the school thought everything was hunky dory. The court agreed, dismissing Christine’s suit in 1989, and again on appeal in 1990.

            But Christine persisted, and in 1991, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

            Christine was not only challenging one school district. She was standing up to President Bush, whose administration opposed expanding the reach of Title IX. The president said it would expose school districts to a massive financial burden.        

            Apparently, in his mind, a school’s welfare trumped a student’s welfare.  

            Not only that, but the case was being heard by a court that included Justice Clarence Thomas, who, during his Senate confirmation hearing, was accused of sexual harassment. He was confirmed anyway.*

A lifelong nightmare

            In February 1992, the high court ruled unanimously in Christine’s favor, clearing the way for her to seek compensation.

            “We intend to ask for substantial damages in the amount of $1 million or more to compensate for the trauma that she has to sustain for the rest of her natural life,” said Michael Weinstock, Christine’s attorney.**

            Christine had gone on to college but dropped out after one year, saying she suffered from eating and sleep disorders. She married her high school boyfriend, Douglas Kreeft, and had a child, but struggled with crushing fears. She found it difficult to leave her home.

            “To be honest, it’s been a nightmare,” she said.***

            Meanwhile, Hill was supported by a large circle of former students, football parents and fellow church members. He made a living selling building supplies and steadfastly maintained his innocence, saying Christine had initiated their encounters.

            For its part, the school district claimed that Christine had made up an ever-changing story and that she had a habit of befriending male teachers. The alleged sexual encounters, they say, were consensual.       

A wide-ranging victory

            In the end, the Gwinnett school district settled with Christine for an undisclosed amount. Her lawsuit became the starting point of a new era for Title IX.

            “It’s an enormous victory for women and girls across the country because it puts teeth in the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools,” said Marcia D. Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center. “It means that students who are victims of sexual harassment, who have been closed out of courses, whose athletic opportunities have been denied and who have faced discrimination in so many other ways finally have a remedy that really will make a difference.”****

                                                ___________________________

* Law professor Anita Hill testified that Thomas harassed her when she worked for him at the U.S. Department of  Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Thomas was confirmed by a narrow margin of 52-48.

** “Student to press $1 million sexual harassment suit,” UPI (February 28, 1992).

*** “Student,” UPI.

**** Ruth Marcus, “Harassment damages approved,” Washington Post (February 27, 1992).

Trans bans reach finish line

Last week, the governing bodies for three sports banned or delayed trans women from competing against biological women. Hallelujah! say those who believe Title IX should protect women’s space in the sporting world.

            FINA, the swimming world’s governing body, now permits only swimmers who have transitioned before age 12 — the onset of male puberty — to compete in women’s events.

            Cycling’s governing body will force transitioning riders to wait longer to compete. The International Cycling Union doubled the transition period on low testosterone to two years and lowered the maximum acceptable level of testosterone.

            And finally, rugby’s governing body banned transgender women from playing in women’s international matches while it works out a policy. The International Rugby League hopes to have something in place before the upcoming World Cup in October.

Wrestling with the issue

            Eventually, every sport will have to wrestle with the issue of transgender participation in women’s sports. These three athletic organizations are saying that males have inherent advantages over biological females that cannot be erased after the onset of puberty, even with hormone therapy. On average, biological males who have gone through puberty can move faster, jump further, throw longer, and lift heavier objects than females, creating large performance gaps in almost all sports. 

            Although there are no transgender competitors currently at elite levels in swimming, FINA’s ban would affect swimmers who hope to compete at national and international competitions and at the Olympics.

            Of course, the first person to come to mind is Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer who competed for the University of Pennsylvania, setting a world record in the NCAA Division I 500-yard freestyle event. Lia has eyes on the Olympics, which are now out of the question. 

            FINA says it’s preparing to address this issue. It has proposed an “open competition category” that would allow transgender women to compete separately. The details of this new swimming category are being worked out.

            These bans address only sporting events at the elite level. But at the same time, nineteen states have enacted laws or issued statewide rules that bar or limit transgender sports participation at all levels.

The yays and nays

            Reaction to the bans was immediate — and predictable. Spokespersons for LGBTQ advocates call the bans discriminatory. Those hoping to protect biological women from having to compete against biological males favor the restrictions.

            “The eligibility criteria for the women’s category as it is laid out in the policy police the bodies of all women, and will not be enforceable without seriously violating the privacy and human rights of any athlete looking to compete in the women’s category,” said Anne Lieberman of Athlete Ally, an LGBTQ advocacy group.*

            “When it comes to sport, you cannot deny biology and facts. And the facts say that men and women are so different, different enough that in order to give girls and women an equal opportunity to participate, they need their own team,” said Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a four-time Olympic swimming medalist and a longtime advocate for women’s rights in sports.**

            Former Olympic decathlete Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender woman, agreed.

            “It worked! I took a lot of heat — but what’s fair is fair! If you go through male puberty you should not be able to take medals away from females. Period,” Jenner said via Twitter.***

            Many people believe the issue can be settled  by creating a separate category or by instituting a system of handicapping, which is an accepted way to address disparities in sports like golf. But the future really is unknown.

            “If we want to see women winning Olympic gold medals or earning professional sports contracts then we can’t be having men in the category,” said Joanna Harper, a sports scientist and transgender woman who is a runner.**** “Can we have trans women who have gone through male puberty in the category? That, admittedly, is not yet a settled question.”

                                                _____________________________

*  Ciarán Fahey,  “World swimming bans transgender athletes from women’s events,” AP News (June 22, 2022).

** Justin Barney, “Olympic gold medalist Hogshead-Makar: Transgender ruling positive news for female swimmers,” WJXT News4Jax (June 20, 2022).

*** Khaleda Rahman, “Transgender Swimming Ban Praised by Former Olympic Athletes,” Newsweek (June 20, 2022).

**** Dan Roan and Katie Falkingham, “Transgender athletes: What do the scientists say?,” BBC Sport (May 11, 2022).

PHOTO:  Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas

A lil’ history for you

Did Title IX spring up out of nowhere?

            Of course not! It was part of a growing awareness of the inequities women faced in society. Today, I’ll share a smattering of the events, laws, books and movements that fueled changing societal attitudes about women.

            Here we go!

The Equal Rights Amendment. Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman introduced the ERA as the Lucretia Mott Amendment in 1923. They worked for the gender equality law for the rest of their lives, although as of today, the amendment has not passed.

Equal pay laws. In 1945, Congress introduced the Women’s Equal Pay Act. It didn’t pass, but in 1955, Rep. Edith Green (D-OR) introduced the Equal Pay Act. The law passed in 1963, and Rep. Green went on to help write Title IX.

Civil rights movement. Women played a crucial role in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s, especially at the grass roots level. For example, Septima Clark designed programs to teach African American citizens how to read and write. Her idea for “citizen education” became the cornerstone of the movement. From women like Clark and suffragists like Mary Church Terrell, who lived into the mid-1950s, women learned how to mobilize for a cause.

The President’s Commission on the Status of Women. President John F. Kennedy established this commission in 1961 to address discrimination against women in education, the work force, and federal benefits programs like Social Security. Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt headed the organization.

The Feminine Mystique. Betty Friedan’s book, published by W.W. Norton in 1963, examined the lives of her Smith College classmates, finding that women weren’t totally fulfilled as wives, mothers and household managers. “There was no activism in that cause when I wrote it,” she said. “But I realized that it was not enough just to write a book. There had to be social change.”*

NOW. The National Organization of Women was founded in 1966 by 28 women, including Friedan and Shirley Chisholm, who became the first Black congresswoman two years later. NOW addresses both gender and racial inequality. Today it has about 500,000 members around the country.

The bra burners. In 1968, a group of women staged a protest at the Miss America beauty pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. They threw bras, lipsticks, pots, pans, mops and high heels into a “Freedom Trash Can.” (The can wasn’t actually burning, as police put the kibosh on fires.) The protest drew in women who had been on the fence about feminism. “We were young radicals, just discovering feminism because we were tired of making coffee but not policy,” said organizer Robin Morgan.**

The Women’s Equity Action League. Elizabeth Boyer and members of NOW founded WEAL in 1968 to raise women’s status through legal action and legislative change. WEAL officer Bernice “Bunny” Sandler, the “Godmother of Title IX,” discovered the loophole in Executive Order 11246, signed by President Johnson in 1965, that barred discrimination by federal contractors based on sex. Because almost all colleges and universities had federal contracts, she thought the order could apply to them.  It was the foundation for Title IX.

Our Bodies, Ourselves. This 1970 book, self published by a group of women in Boston, celebrated women’s bodies, health and sexuality. It encouraged women to view themselves as independent, whole persons rather than as passive partners for men. By 1972, publisher Simon & Schuster came calling, and today the book has sold more than 4 million copies.

Ms. magazine. Journalist and activist Gloria Steinem started Ms. magazine in 1971 as an insert in New York magazine. It quickly eclipsed the day’s women’s magazines, which focused on fashion, food, husband hunting and child raising. By 1972, it was a stand-alone magazine. BTW, civil rights activist Sheila Michaels invented the “Ms” title in 1961, when she wanted to complete forms without including a marital status. “There was no place for me [as a single woman]. I didn’t belong to my father and I didn’t want to belong to a husband,” she said.***

            So there you have it… a brief course in the birth of the women’s movement!

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* Ben Wattenberg. Interview of Betty Friedan for The First Measured Century. (weekly PBS program).   https://www.pbs.org/fmc/interviews/friedan.htm

** “100 Women: The truth behind the ‘bra-burning’ feminists,” BBC News (September 7, 2018). https://www.bbc.com/news/world-45303069 Morgan later said she regretted targeting the contestants. “After all, they were mostly working-class women trying to get a free scholarship.” 

*** Eve Kay,“Call Me Ms.” The Guardian (June 29, 2007).

NOTE: Image shows Septima Clark (left) and a Miss America protester (right).