Today marks 50 years of #TitleIX, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funding. This landmark gender equity law and the extensive protections it provides to students is worthy of celebration.

Most often, we hear of #TitleIX in the context of sports, breaking down barriers for women & girls in athletic pursuits. Here in Washington, DC, we’ve seen this impact on the professional level. For example:

• Washington Spirit’s Tori Huster, who we honored this month with a Leadership Award at our Annual Luncheon, helped lead negotiations for the National Women’s Soccer League’s first collective bargaining agreement. This groundbreaking agreement guarantees better work environments, better mental health protections, and most importantly better compensation for all the players in the league.
• In March 2022, the region’s women’s professional sports teams created The Washington Coalition of Women’s Professional Sports (WCWPS) to help provide resources to the wider women’s sports community in the region. The coalition’s first initiative is in partnership with Level the Playing Field and focuses on a sports bra collection drive with the goal of collecting 5,000 donated bras.

Without #TitleIX, women’s sports would remain an afterthought. As a legacy women’s organization, we are proud to partner with and be uplifted by the Washington Spirit and its players, who work every day to further gender equity in sports.

In addition to sports equity, #TitleIX prohibits all forms of sex discrimination in federally funded education programs. This means equal access STEM programming; protections for LGBTQI+ people; discrimination based on pregnant and parenting status; and other gender-based discrimination. It requires schools receiving federal funding to combat #GenderBasedViolence and harassment, making Title IX a powerful tool for stopping sexual violence and harassment on campuses. We encourage you to learn more about all these protections here.

Thanks to #TitleIX, women and girls have made significant strides in education & sports, yet additional action must be taken to achieve #GenderEquity. That’s why we’re calling for the passage of the Gender Equity in Education Act (GEEA), critical to realizing this goal. Read our joint letter to Congress: bit.ly/3wJwOCQ 

YWCA NCA and YWCA’s around the country and globe are proud to be champions for women’s rights and advocates for anti-discrimination. 50 years after Title IX, we’re proud of how far we’ve come, but we still have work to do. Join us!