The Biden administration’s ambitious Title IX overhaul went into effect Thursday not with a bang but a whimper, blocked in all 26 states that challenged the final rule adding “gender identity” to the law banning sex discrimination in education.
The state tally rose from 22 to 26 after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a preliminary injunction late Wednesday blocking the rule from taking effect in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, overturning a lower-court decision from the previous day.
Not that blue states won’t be affected.
More than 2,000 K-12 schools and 700 colleges, universities and higher-education institutions in at least 45 states have also opted out pending the outcome of litigation under the so-called Moms for Liberty loophole.
Despite the courtroom victories, foes of the Title IX rule aren’t celebrating.
They warned that the Biden administration’s overhaul will jeopardize women’s safety, privacy and opportunities, as men who identify as women are allowed access to women’s locker rooms, restrooms, sports, and other sex-segregated spaces.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Republican, called it a “sad day for our country when it comes to sports.”
“Starting [Thursday], girls will be forced to share locker rooms with boys,” he said on a press call organized by the Independent Women’s Forum. “They’re going to lose scholarships to boys. Girls could be in harm’s way, as we’ve seen with boxing this week in the Olympics.”
He referred to the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow two boxers to compete against women despite being disqualified from the women’s world championships last year for failing gender tests.
The courtroom defeats may have put a damper on the administration’s celebration of its sweeping Title IX overhaul, but the Department of Education doggedly defended the final rule.
“Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in a federally funded educational environment,” a department spokesperson said.
“The Department crafted the final Title IX regulations following a rigorous process to realize the nondiscrimination mandate of Title IX. The Department stands by the final Title IX regulations released in April 2024, and we will continue to fight for every student,” the spokesperson said.
The department has asked the courts to allow part of the final rule to take effect, namely the sections walking back the Trump-era guardrails on due process in adjudicating campus sexual assault and harassment allegations.
“While the appeals of previous rulings are pending, we have asked the trial courts to allow the unchallenged provisions — the bulk of the final rule — to take effect in these states as scheduled, on August 1,” the spokesperson told The Washington Times.
Today, the Biden-Harris administration’s harmful Title IX rewrite goes into effect. This rule says sex = gender identity.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) August 1, 2024
52 years of progress & sex-based protections have been erased with the stroke of a pen…
In response, 26 states have sued and blocked the rule. pic.twitter.com/y7PWi4g7Zg
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming Republican, said she worried about the rule’s impact on students and faculty who “misgender” others by using their non-preferred pronouns, saying such behavior will now constitute sexual harassment.
“This is the Biden-Harris administration going way too far,” Ms. Lummis said. “This is corrupting the moral normal of the United States.”
House Republicans have fought the rule by passing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would bar male-born athletes from female sports, and a resolution to overturn the Title IX rule, but Senate Democrats have stymied the bills.
“While we’re having trouble with legislative efforts to protect women and sports — we’ve been thwarted there, the committee has been vindicated by the courts,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Republican and House Education and the Workforce Committee chairwoman.
“Federal courts have blocked the rule in [26] states and in many individual schools around the country,” she said. “So the cases are going to continue to play out in the appeals courts, and potentially the Supreme Court.”
The Biden administration has insisted that the rule does not apply to scholastic sports, saying that issue will be addressed in a proposed rule expected to be released after the November election.
Opponents aren’t buying it, saying there’s nothing in the rule to prevent the “gender identity” addition from being extended to athletics.
“The Biden-Harris administration might not be able to define what a woman is, but they are waging a systematic and deliberate campaign to eliminate Title IX and destroy women’s sports,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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