Transgender runner Evie Parts sues NCAA and Swarthmore College over removal from team

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Long-distance runner Evie Parts has sued the NCAA and Swarthmore College, as well as members of its athletic department, claiming she was illegally removed from the track team because she is a transgender athlete, according to reporting by The Associated Press.

What we know:

Parts was removed from the team on February 6, the day the NCAA issued its new policy on transgender athletes. Swarthmore eventually "fully reinstated" Parts on April 11, and she competed on the women's team until graduating in May.

The lawsuit states that Parts was told by athletics officials Christina Epps-Chiazor and Valerie Gomez that she could only compete with the men's team or as an unattached athlete, and would only receive medical treatment if she competed on the men's team. Coaches were not allowed to coach her, and she could not wear a Swarthmore uniform or travel with the team. According to the complaint, this sent Parts into "such a depressive state that she engaged in self-harm and in one moment told a friend that she wanted to kill herself."

The lawsuit argues that the NCAA's ban on transgender athletes in women's sports has no legal grounds because it is not a governmental organization and, therefore, has no jurisdiction over Pennsylvania state law or the Title IX federal statute.

Parts' attorney, Susie Cirilli, stated, "As stated in the complaint, the NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy. Swarthmore College chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law."

Swarthmore College issued a statement saying it "deeply values our transgender community members" and that it "worked to support Evie Parts in a time of rapidly evolving guidance." 

The NCAA chose not to comment on the lawsuit, according to the AP reporting on Aug. 18. 

The NCAA's new participation policy, which limits competition in women's sports to athletes assigned female at birth, was issued a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports. A Pennsylvania state Senate bill to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports at the collegiate and K-12 levels passed the Senate but is not expected to be voted on by the state's Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.