A federal complaint filed this week requests that an investigation be opened into two graduate-level university-sponsored groups at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) over alleged discrimination against biological males.
According to the complaint, filed by the Equal Protection Project, MIT’s “Graduate Womxn in Physics” and “Graduate Womxn in Biology” programs violate Title IX by excluding male students. Males are “included only if they demonstrate additional factors, such as being ‘transgender’ or nonbinary.”
“Under the Programs’ own definitions, biological females are automatically eligible for participation, while biological males are categorically excluded unless they disclaim or redefine their sex,” the filing asserts, adding, “Such differing eligibility standards based on whether one is male or female constitute sex-based discrimination in clear violation of Title IX. Additionally, the way in which the programs are titled and promoted signals that the programs are not for males, which itself is a violation of Title IX.”
According to the “Graduate Womxn in Physics” website, the program seeks to “build community and support gender diversity among physics graduate students at MIT.” The website for “Graduate Womxn in Biology” similarly describes the program as an “inclusive group for individuals interested in supporting womxn-identifying, transgender, and non-binary individuals in Biology-related fields at MIT.”
Equal Protection Project Founder and President William Jacobson told The New York Post that the alleged discrimination “may be more serious than we even know.” He added, “The situation may involve other programs that we don’t know about, so we would hope that the Department of Justice would open an investigation.”
