Equity in Athletics

The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.

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What's at Stake

Title IX is perhaps best known as the law mandating gender equality in athletics; indeed, since the enactment of Title IX over 40 years ago, athletics has been an area where progress has been the most visible. Participation by women and girls in athletics has skyrocketed, increasing from 10 percent of high school athletes to 41 percent, yet girls’ participation rates and opportunities still lag behind those of boys, and resources and funding remain starkly unequal. Litigation and advocacy remain necessary to ensure that schools comply with the mandate for gender equality in athletics.

Cases 

Mansourian v. Regents of the University of California 

Biediger v. Quinnipiac University

Ollier v. Sweetwater Union High School District (ACLU of San Diego)

Title IX is perhaps best known as the law mandating gender equality in athletics; indeed, since the enactment of Title IX over 40 years ago, athletics has been an area where progress has been the most visible. Participation by women and girls in athletics has skyrocketed, increasing from 10 percent of high school athletes to 41 percent, yet girls’ participation rates and opportunities still lag behind those of boys, and resources and funding remain starkly unequal. Litigation and advocacy remain necessary to ensure that schools comply with the mandate for gender equality in athletics.

Cases 

Mansourian v. Regents of the University of California 

Biediger v. Quinnipiac University

Ollier v. Sweetwater Union High School District (ACLU of San Diego)

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