Trans Athlete Sadie Schreiner Sues Princeton Over Discrimination

In February 2025, the transgender community received a considerable blow in the world of sports. As part of his ongoing assault on trans rights, President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled “Keeping men Out of Women’s Sports,” using transphobic rhetoric to bar gender non-conforming athletes from competing in sports events. The Trump administration has since repeatedly threatened schools that do not comply with this policy.

Many schools have since enacted harsher restrictions on women’s sports, putting the careers of several trans female athletes in jeopardy, including that of Sadie Schreiner. This past May, the medal-winning sprinter was removed from a track meet at Princeton University mere moments before she was set to compete. A few weeks later, Schreiner filed a lawsuit against the Ivy League school.

Who is Sadie Schreiner in the world of sports?

Sadie Schreiner is a former Rochester Institute of Technology sprinter. In 2024, she placed third in the 200 meters at the NCAA DIII nationals event. Though she made history on the podium as one of three trans women who have earned multiple NCAA All-American awards, she has continually fought for trans women’s rights to compete in women’s sports.

She’s previously been vocal on social media on issues surrounding trans athletes. Calling herself “your government’s least favorite athlete” on her Instagram bio, she’s shared many of her sprinting accomplishments and has extensively documented her struggle against transgender bans in sports. Her fight continues to this day as she prepares to take an Ivy League school to court.

Sadie Schreiner is suing Princeton University for unlawful discrimination.

On July 16, 2025, OutSports reported that Schreiner filed a lawsuit against Princeton University and its athletic department for violating New Jersey’s anti-discrimination laws during a major track event. She was initially set to compete in the school’s Larry Ellis Invitational 200-meter event. However, fifteen minutes before the event, she was unceremoniously removed from the competition.

The suit alleges that Athletic Director John Mack and track operations director Kimberly Keenan-Kirkpatrick singled Schreiner out of the competition because of her gender identity. Keenan-Kirkpatrick herself reportedly demonstrated bias against Schreiner, stating “I do not want to assume, but you are transgender” as grounds for barring the sprinter.

Schreiner is currently seeking damages from Princeton for practicing “actual malice” in removing Schreiner based on her gender identity.

In a statement to OutSports, attorney Susan Cirilli proclaimed, “Gender identity and expression is a protected status under the NJLAD. As included in the complaint, it is unlawful discrimination for any person to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the doing of any acts forbidden under the NJLAD.”

 

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This is not the first time that Schreiner was removed from competition because of her gender identity since President Trump signed the executive order. Less than a day before running in Boston University’s Valentine Invitational Meet, an event she’d been qualified to run previously, the school rescinded her eligibility for the women’s sporting event due to her being “assigned male at birth.”

As of this writing, no representatives of Princeton University have made any comment to the press.

Comment below and tell us your hopes for Sadie Schreiner’s fight against discrimination.

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