‘This is an abuse of federal power that is anti-women, anti-science, and anti-logic. See you in court, @POTUS’
Arguing the Biden administration’s decision to include gender identity in Title IX will harm women, conservative groups have vowed to work to reverse the “administrative fiat” in the courts.
Many argue Biden’s Education Department lacks the authority to rewrite the 52-year-old federal law to redefine sex to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
“This regulation is an assault on women and girls,” stated Betsy DeVos, education secretary under President Donald Trump, in a post on X.
“It makes it a federal requirement that boys be allowed in girls bathrooms in elementary schools. It makes it a federal requirement that men be allowed to play women’s sports, putting their safety, privacy and competitive opportunity at risk. And it makes it a federal requirement that feelings, not facts, dictate how Title IX is enforced,” DeVos stated.
While the Biden administration argued the rewrite does not make a final determination on transgender athletes, the 1,577-page rule mentions “athletics” 31 times, “sports” 10 times and “team” 111 times. The rule takes effect Aug. 1.
Independent Women’s Forum’s law center is “preparing to sue the Biden administration to enjoin this unlawful action,” it announced Friday.
“The Department of Education can’t just rewrite the statute by administrative fiat. We are confident the courts will remind the Department of this basic principle and strike down this unlawful rule,” stated Jennifer Braceras, vice president for legal affairs at IWF, in a news release.
May Mailman, director of law center, stated the “unlawful Omnibus Regulation re-imagines Title IX to permit the invasion of women’s spaces and the reduction of women’s rights in the name of elevating protections for ‘gender identity,’ which is contrary to the text and purpose of Title IX. This is illegal, and we plan to sue.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is also prepping a complaint.
The Biden admin can't redefine "sex" in Title IX without affecting women's opportunities, including women’s sports. Under these rule changes, privacy, safety, parental rights, free speech, and—yes—women’s sports are at risk.
This is an abuse of federal power that is…
— Kristen Waggoner (@KWaggonerADF) April 19, 2024
“The Biden admin can’t redefine ‘sex’ in Title IX without affecting women’s opportunities, including women’s sports. Under these rule changes, privacy, safety, parental rights, free speech, and—yes—women’s sports are at risk,” Kristen Waggoner, president of ADF, stated in a post on X. “This is an abuse of federal power that is anti-women, anti-science, and anti-logic. See you in court, @POTUS.”
Christiana Kiefer, senior counsel for the alliance, wrote there are several unlawful aspects of the decision, primarily that it lacks legal authority.
“Redefining ‘sex discrimination’ is not authorized by Title IX’s text or Supreme Court precedent. Title IX deals with sex, not gender identity or sexual orientation,” she wrote on ADF’s website.
It also “hurts female athletes and jeopardizes women’s privacy,” she wrote, listing several female athletes who lost to biologically male athletes who identify as women.
Another huge concern among conservatives is that the new rule will force people to use others’ preferred gender pronouns.
“Free speech is clearly threatened by the mandatory use of pronouns inconsistent with a person’s biological sex,” Kiefer wrote. “Words matter, and redefining ‘sex’ to include sexual orientation and gender identity necessarily implies a different message that many will not want to express.”
Congressional Republicans might also get involved in the fight.
“This final rule dumps kerosene on the already raging fire that is Democrats’ contemptuous culture war that aims to radically redefine sex and gender,” Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) stated in a news release.
“The rule also undermines existing due process rights, placing students and institutions in legal jeopardy and again undermining the protections Title IX is intended to provide. Evidently, the acceptance of biological reality, and the faithful implementation of the law, are just pills too big for the Department to swallow – and it shows.”
IMAGE: Africa Studio / Shutterstock
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