Defending Ed Files Civil Rights Complaint Against University of Wisconsin-Madison for Title IX Violations, Failing to Provide Female Students with Sex-segregated Intimate Spaces

On November 12, 2025, Defending Ed filed a civil rights complaint with the University of Wisconsin-Madison for violations against Title IX.

University of Wisconsin Madison is the largest post-secondary institution in the state, with approximately 50,000 students.  While it acknowledges that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination based on sex, its policies focus instead on “gender identity.” Specifically, policy “UW-6009: Inclusive Facilities Policy and Procedures for All Buildings” states that “students, staff, faculty, and visitors have the right to use the restroom, locker room, shower, or changing facility most safe and comfortable for them, without being harassed or questioned, regardless of gender expression or sex assigned at birth.” While UW-6009 outlines a plan for eventual construction of single-use “gender neutral” restrooms for all students, the policy also specifies that “[p]atrons may use the gendered restroom that is safest and most comfortable for them in all UW–Madison facilities.” This policy guarantees that male students may enter female restrooms, a right that extends to “all UW-Madison facilities.” 

If women are uncomfortable sharing multi-stall restrooms with biological males, the University instructs them to use a limited number of gender inclusive, single-occupancy restrooms instead. Forcing women to give up the private spaces and facilities that Title IX guarantees is a violation of the spirit, history, and plain text of that law. This is the second civil rights complaint that Defending Education has filed against University of Wisconsin Madison this year and we look forward to the Department of Education’s speedy resolution. 

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Read the full complaint below: