The Biden administration’s rule adding “gender identity” to Title IX has been temporarily blocked in 26 states, but Idaho Gov. Brad Little isn’t taking any chances.
The Republican governor signed an executive order pushing back on the federal rewrite that adds biological men who identify as women to Title IX, the landmark civil-rights law banning sex discrimination in education.
The order, dubbed the Defending Women’s Sports Act, warned that the “Biden-Harris administration’s radical redefinition of gender” would jeopardize Idaho’s work “to protect our female students.”
“I am proud that I was the first Governor in the nation to sign a bill banning boys and men from competing with girls and women in athletics, and we are taking additional steps through my new executive order to defend women’s sports,” Mr. Little said Wednesday in a statement.
The order directs the state Education Department to ensure that schools are “following all of Idaho’s laws related to fairness in women’s sports and continue to update all public schools as the legal challenges to the new Title IX rules unfold.”
The order also ensures that “every female student in Idaho is provided equal opportunity in sports and school to the fullest extent, as guaranteed to them under the original Title IX rules and Idaho law.”
The Biden administration’s final rule took effect Aug. 1, but the measure has been temporarily blocked by federal judges in 26 states, including Idaho, pending the outcome of litigation.
Those joining Mr. Little at the Wednesday press conference included All-American swimmer Riley Gaines and Republican state Rep. Barbara Ehardt, who sponsored the state’s first-in-the-nation Fairness in Women’s Sports Act in 2020.
“Title IX changed my life,” said Ms. Ehardt, who coached NCAA Division I women’s basketball for 15 years. “I think it’s important to recognize how far women have come, and now the Biden-Harris administration is taking that away from us because the White House thinks that they can dictate what can happen with us and our Title IX. And that’s simply not right.”
She added: “I applaud Governor Little for standing strong.”
Ms. Gaines also cheered the governor for “standing up against the Biden-Harris administration’s Title IX rewrite, which is an assault on women’s sex-based rights.”
“Idaho is lucky to have such incredible leaders who are unafraid to say women’s sports are for females,” she said in a statement. “This is what it looks like to stand with women, and I hope every Governor does the same!”
It’s simple - biological males do not belong in women’s sports. I want to thank @Riley_Gaines_ for joining us today & being a leading voice in this important fight for female athletes. https://t.co/f41vdyAC9n
— Brad Little (@GovernorLittle) August 29, 2024
The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho blasted the order, saying that the “state of Idaho has been engaged in a relentless attempt to erase transgender people from public life and to strip transgender women and girls of their rights and opportunities.”
“The ACLU of Idaho will not let these civil liberties violations — using taxpayer money, no less — go unchallenged,” the ACLU said in a statement to KTVB-TV.
A federal judge blocked the state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports law from taking effect pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by Lindsey Hecox, a male-to-female student at Boise State University who sought to compete in women’s track.
Twenty-four states have followed Idaho in passing laws barring biological males from participating in female scholastic sports.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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