Womenstake

Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) Settles Title IX Case

by Kolbe Franklin, Program Associate, 
National Women’s Law Center 

A group of parents recently entered into a settlement agreement with the Florida High School Athletic Association. The parents filed a lawsuit last spring after FHSAA approved a statewide plan to reduce the number of varsity-level games for all sports except football (and cheerleading, which is generally not counted as a sport). The parents claimed that the decision violated Title IX because it disadvantaged more girls than boys. After reversing its decision in July to carry out the approved cuts, the FHSAA entered a formal settlement in which it agrees to restore the number of varsity-level games to the 2008-2009 level, provide Title IX training to its members, and provide compensation for legal expenses.

'Glee' Cheerleading Coach and Pregnancy Discrimination - Shame on Sue!

by Amanda Stone, Fellow, 
National Women's Law Center

“Q, take off those sunglasses. I want to look in your eyes when I tell you this. You’re off the Cheerios. I can’t have a pregnant girl on the squad. You’re a disgrace.” These are the words that Sue Sylvester, coach of the school’s award-winning competitive cheerleading squad, the Cheerios, told pregnant teen Quinn Fabray at the end of this week’s episode of "Glee," the new hit Fox musical high school series.

Can Sue do this? Absolutely not! "Glee" is set in what appears to be a public high school in Ohio. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits schools that receive federal funds from discriminating against students on the basis of sex, including pregnancy. In fact, the Title IX regulations explicitly provide protection to pregnant students. Specifically, the provision prohibits discrimination based on a student’s “pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom.”

Practically speaking, what does Title IX mean for pregnant students? Schools subject to Title IX must provide these students with equal access to all school programs and activities. This means schools may not assume that pregnant students cannot attend school or participate in school activities. In fact, these are precisely the types of outmoded stereotypes Congress intended to address when it passed Title IX.  

So what does this mean for schools? Well, a school cannot penalize pregnant students for violating its moral code. Nor can it require pregnant students to take steps not required of all students with medical conditions requiring the treatment of a physician. A pregnant student’s participation in school activities should be made in consultation with the student and her doctor and a school may not erect hurdles, large or small, to discourage her participation.

Sue’s actions clearly violated Title IX, but kicking Quinn off of the cheerleading squad also made bad policy. Studies indicate that participation in school activities helps to keep students engaged in school, thus making it less likely they will give up and drop out. Unfortunately, what happened to Quinn is not unique -– schools all over the country still discriminate against pregnant students, 37 years after Title IX was enacted. Shame on Sue!

NWLC Applauds Confirmation of Thomas Perez

by Amy Matsui, Senior Counsel, 
National Women's Law Center 

The National Women’s Law Center applauds the Senate for confirming Thomas Perez as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today by a bipartisan vote of 72-22. The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) strongly supported Mr. Perez’s nomination.

“The National Women’s Law Center commends the Senate for confirming Tom Perez as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division and is proud to have supported his nomination,” said NWLC Co-President Marcia Greenberger. “Mr. Perez, who brings twenty years of experience enforcing and supporting our nation’s civil rights laws, is eminently qualified for this position.”  

Mr. Perez has spent his entire career in public service. He worked as a career prosecutor in the Civil Rights Division, where he was quickly promoted to Deputy Chief of the Criminal Section.  He was appointed to be Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in 1998, and he served as the Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S.  Department of Health and Human Services from February 1999 until the end of the Clinton Administration. At various points in his career, Mr. Perez worked for the late Senator Edward Kennedy, advising the Senator on civil rights, criminal justice and constitutional issues, and taught law and public health. Mr. Perez currently serves as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.

The Civil Rights Division enforces legal protections of critical importance to women, including Title VII, which prohibits sex discrimination in employment; Title IX, which protects women against sex-based discrimination in educational programs; and the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which allows women to safely exercise their constitutional right to reproductive health. In addition, the Civil Rights Division is responsible for prosecuting hate crimes and human trafficking crimes.  

Mr. Perez’s nomination comes at a critical time. Much work needs to be done to address pay discrimination, educational opportunities, violence against health care providers, and a host of other urgent matters.

“It is time for a Civil Rights Division that is fully committed to enforcing the civil rights protections upon which the citizens of this nation rely,” Greenberger said.  “Mr. Perez is the right person to restore the department’s historic role as guardian of civil rights and to make the enforcement of women’s rights and legal protections a priority once again.”

Weekly Round-Up

by Robin Reed, Online Outreach Manager, 
National Women's Law Center 

The New York Times’ Economix blog explored several of the reasons health care reform is such an important issue for women. 

Rachel posted at Our Bodies Our Blog about a new study that found an increase in the number of medical abortions and said, “The large geographic overlap between facilities that provide surgical abortion and those that offer mifepristone means that, in many cases, women are able to choose the type of early abortion procedure they prefer,” but that “mifepristone has not brought a major improvement in the geographic availability of abortion.”

The University of Maryland, which currently has 15 women’s sports teams and 12 men’s teams, may need to eliminate some teams to cut expenses due to the economic crisis (via Title IX Blog).

Two American women won the Nobel prize for medicine for their work on chromosomes and cell division. So far, a total of 10 women have won the prize. 

Courtney posted at Feministing about the ongoing allegations by some that the economic crisis has hurt men more than it has women.

Conform to Gender Norms - Or Face the Consequences

by Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment, 
National Women’s Law Center 

Last week a principal at a high school in Waldorf, Maryland reversed her decision to ban a student from the yearbook.  What conduct warranted such an extreme decision?  Well, a female student wanted to be photographed in a tuxedo like the male students in her class (rather than the drape required for girls) and that, it seems, was quite controversial.

Initially the principal gave her two options – either wear the drape or don’t appear in the yearbook.  But the principal reversed the decision to ban the student from the yearbook last week after investigating the practices and policies of other high schools in the county. 

It is wonderful that the student, after working hard for years, will not be banned from the yearbook.  But it is also a smart decision for the school – one thing that did not make the media reports is that the school opened itself up to liability under Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination by educational institutions that receive federal funds, including sex-stereotyping.  Who knows if this case would have risen to the level of a law suit or an investigation by the Office for Civil Rights.  But let’s just say that denying a student an opportunity to participate in school activities because she failed to conform to female stereotypes is not a good way to start the school year.

Weekly Round-Up

by Mary Robbins, Program Associate, 
and Robin Reed, Online Outreach Manager, 
National Women's Law Center  

A New Jersey initiative will help the state's women veterans by providing them with business training and loan assistance to enable them to become entrepreneurs, as reported by NJ.com (via Young Women Misbehavin').

Dallas, Texas, leads the United States in the percentage of repeat births by teen girls, reported the Dallas Morning News (via Reproductive Rights Prof Blog). Earlier this year, a report concluded that the Texas public school system is creating a generation of “sexually illiterate” students through abstinence-only education (taught in 94 percent of public schools in Texas).

Fair Game News interviewed a professional woman squash player about her experience with the game and the difference in prize money awarded in the men's and women's tournaments.

Jump Off the Bridge launched an online book club, Radical Readers & Feminisms for Dummies (via Women's Health News).

Ebuz at Title IX Blog highlighted a new book about the gender dynamics of college athletics departments, specifically the tensions for female coaches.

In an effort to counter the protests happening at abortion clinics, NARAL Pro Choice America held a virtual rally to support Dr. LeRoy Carhart, an abortion provider who has been outspoken about the need for reproductive health care.

Katie Reyes: Breaking Down Barriers One Game at a Time

by Neena Chaudhry, Senior Counsel,
National Women’s Law Center 

Yesterday, a quiet thirteen-year-old girl made history just doing something she loves – playing baseball. Katie Reyes may or may not have known that her actions made history, although she certainly does by now. According to news reports, she became the first girl to have a game-winning hit in the Little League World Series. Major kudos to Katie!  

Given that she is only thirteen and grew up in the post-Title IX era, Katie might not realize what a major milestone her accomplishments represent in the history of women’s sports. Before Title IX, and even after, girls and women were not allowed to participate in many sports or were forced to play by different rules because of various stereotypes, including the notion that sports were too tough for females’ delicate bodies. Title IX has certainly changed the legal landscape when it comes to women and girls in sports, but many barriers still remain. Girls and women still receive only a little over 40% of the participation opportunities at the high school and college levels, and cases of unequal treatment of their teams abound.  Minority girls and those living in urban areas face the additional challenges of schools with few resources and cultural barriers such as parents not wanting their daughters to play sports because of safety concerns or because they are needed for household duties like child care and cleaning.

Katie is a shining example of what can happen when young women are given opportunities to play. But we must keep striving to ensure that equal athletic opportunities are a reality for all of our daughters.

Senator Kennedy: A Compassionate and Effective Champion for Women

by Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President, 
National Women’s Law Center 

Not surprisingly in retrospect, when I began work on women’s rights in the early 1970s, Senator Kennedy was the very first Senator I met. I testified at a hearing he held in 1973, where he uncovered the coercive use of an experimental contraceptive drug on low-income and institutionalized women. Senator Kennedy showed enormous compassion and concern for the shameful plight faced by these women and great kindness and understanding when they came forward to testify. And he did not rest until government protections were promulgated to prevent such abuses in the future.

He mastered the intricacies of the laws at issue and what needed to be done to right the wrongs he had brought to light. And he put together a superb staff to carry out the strategy that he developed. I learned then what has been reinforced so many times since—that there was no more principled, more hard working nor more effective force in the fight for justice and a better life for all than Senator Kennedy.

Weekly Round-Up

by Catherine Kruse, Outreach Intern, 
National Women’s Law Center 

Michelle Snyder at Moms Rising discussed why health care reform is especially crucial for children, and reflected on her own personal experiences.

Elise Anderson wrote for The Washington Times about summer camps that engage girls in technology fields. 

Cara at The Curvature discussed how although states are mandated to pay for rape kits under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), many make detrimental exceptions.

At Title IX Blog, Ebuz posted about USA Today sports writer Christine Brennan’s recent interview with Real Clear Sports and commented on Brennan’s support and advocacy for Title IX.

Deborah at Girl w/ Pen compared the Beauty Myth by Naomi Woolf, published in 1991, to today’s standards, and found that they haven’t changed much.

Billie Jean King to Receive Medal of Honor

by Melanie Ross Levin, Outreach Manager, 
National Women's Law Center 

On Thursday, the White House announced that Billie Jean King and 15 others will receive the Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States. If you are not aware of Billie Jean King’s accomplishments, here is the laundry list: 20 Wimbledon titles, 13 U.S. Open titles, first female athlete to win more than $100,000 in a year in any sport, co-founder of World Team Tennis and founder of the Women’s Sports Foundation. And let us not forget her victory against Bobby Riggs in the famous “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. 

I had the privilege of first meeting Billie Jean King at the National Women’s Law Center’s 2004 dinner. Her energy and passion for Title IX is contagious. When she receives the Medal of Freedom from the President on August 12, she will not only receive it for herself but for all women who fight to play, practice and compete. Three cheers for Billie Jean King and three cheers for the Obama Administration for acknowledging the importance of female athletes and advocates.