Discussion Topic: Transgender Rights Many of, if not most, if not all, of you are at least somewhat aware of the debate over transgender woman swimmer Lia Thomas.Links to an external site. California law recognizes "gender expression" and "gender identity" as a protected category. Consequently, discrimination against a transgender person, because that person is transgender, is illegal. Arguably on the other hand, Federal law as embodied in Title IX Links to an external site.was, among other things, designed to create equality in collegiate sports which, back in the day, was pretty much a male exclusive thing. As a result of Title IX there are now myriad collegiate women's sports (e.g., NCAA Women's BB Championship) on an equal footing with, and is some cases more popular than, men's sports. This is a contentious issue and some states are passing laws to prevent transgender girls/women from competing against biological girls/women