Biden Admin Alters Title IX for LGBTQ Students: 'A Slap in the Face to Women and Girls'
There are mounting challenges to changes proposed by the Biden administration that have expanded protections for LGBTQ+ students under Title IX – a move which critics say will erase protections for women.
The decades-old policy was created to prohibit discrimination based on biological sex to ensure equitable access to education for women and girls.
But the White House is attempting to expand the definition to prohibit discrimination "based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics."
Ten states have used the current framework to protect the safety and privacy of girls by blocking gender-confused students from using bathrooms that don't correspond to their biological gender. Some schools also choose not to acknowledge "preferred pronouns" that don't match a person's gender at birth.
However, both moves could be seen as Title IX violations under the new rules.
Schools would also potentially be held liable for failing to address bullying based on gender identity.
The Biden administration is delaying action when it comes to the hot-button issue of transgender athletes competing in girls' sports.
While the new rules are set to take effect on August 1, Republican leaders and conservative groups are expected to challenge the change in court.
The Independent Women's Forum, a national conservative group, was one of several groups that threatened legal action over the new Title IX rule, Inside Higher Ed reported.
"The Department of Education can't flip the statute on its head by administrative fiat," Jennifer C. Braceras, vice president for legal affairs at Independent Women's Forum, said in a statement. "And we are confident the courts will remind the department of this basic principle and strike down this rule as unlawful."
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti posted on X, "TN is prepared to defend Title IX & protect against unlawful regulations that redefine what sex really means."
TN has been fighting the Administration over its unlawful approach to Title IX since it first issued guidance in 2021.
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) April 19, 2024
In 2022, we sued & enjoined the Admin’s guidance.
TN is prepared to defend Title IX & protect against unlawful regulations that redefine what sex really means. https://t.co/iZIUy2DG2F
The Alliance Defending Freedom, a non-profit legal group, says it will challenge the new regulation adding that the more than 1,500-page rule "illegitimately redefines 'sex' in federal law."
"The Biden administration's radical redefinition of sex turns back the clock on equal opportunity for women, threatens student safety and privacy, and undermines fairness in women's sports," said Rachel Rouleau, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom. "It is a slap in the face to women and girls who have fought long and hard for equal opportunities."
Sarah Parshall Perry, a legal expert at the Heritage Foundation, told CBN's Faith Nation the biggest issue of this updated policy is that it "turns upside down the notion of equality for men and women in education."
"It sets on its head socially all we have known about the First Amendment protections of freedom of speech by requiring the use of preferred pronouns," she explained. "And of course, the biggest change is the expansion to include gender identity which sets biological males up against biological women in some kind of battle for the ages."
Perry went on to say that while four lawsuits have been filed to enforce a preliminary injunction to halt the change while litigation moves forward, Congress has 60 days to enact a "Congressional Review Act" challenge to downvote the guidance.
"Ultimately in the end this is going to be a battle for the courts," she said. "When an administration makes a rule so expansive, so illegal because it is not supported by the text of history or interpretative case law, it really does require nothing less than a federal litigation challenge."
"It is not a question of if they come, but of how many and when," Perry added.
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