DENVER — Parents in blue states may feel powerless to stop the Biden administration’s Title IX rule, but it turns out they have a silver bullet: They can join Moms for Liberty.
A federal judge last week temporarily blocked the final rule adding gender identity to Title IX in Alaska, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming — and schools attended by children whose parents belong to Moms for Liberty or students who are members of Young America’s Foundation or Female Athletes United.
In other words, any parent in any state can stop their child’s school from enforcing the Title IX rewrite simply by signing up for Moms for Liberty, which is free and can be done online, or having their child register for YAF or FAU.
The deadline is July 15.
The result is a membership-drive bonanza that has the potential to bring untold hundreds, if not thousands, into the Moms for Liberty fold as parents seek to exempt their schools from the gender identity requirement pending the outcome of the lawsuit.
“If you join by July 15th, your child will be protected from the Biden administration’s radical overhaul of Title IX,” said Moms for Liberty, which enrolls mothers and fathers, on X. “That means girls & parental rights [are] protected at your child’s school!”
The message is particularly relevant in blue states or those with Democratic attorneys general. No Democratic attorney general has sued to block the revised rule.
In Colorado, the state Republican Party sent out an email blast urging parents to sign up for their local Moms chapter, saying that “your simple act of joining Moms for Liberty today immediately stops grooming in YOUR local school district!!”
Darcy Schoening, the party’s director of special initiatives, said the campaign is working.
“We are seeing a couple dozen sign ups per day!” she said in an email.
In New York, education advocate Maud Maron sought to drum up membership in a New York Post op-ed headlined “Court gives parents escape hatch for Biden’s trans lunacy.”
“If you want to protect your kids and their school from bad federal law (the egregious Biden re-write of Title IX) join @Moms4Liberty before July 15th! Really!” she said on X.
The Department of Education’s final rule inserted gender identity into Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in education, meaning that the civil rights law will cover transgender girls and women. The update takes effect Aug. 1.
The department said the Title IX rewrite will “promote educational equity and opportunity for students across the country,” while critics warn the regulations will usher transgender students into girls’ and women’s restrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams.
Moms for Liberty said the rule also would bar schools from informing parents about their children’s gender transitions. Those accused of misgendering students and staff could face sexual-harassment sanctions.
Exempt your child’s school from the Biden Administration’s radical rewrite of Title IX by becoming a member of @Moms4Liberty https://t.co/kDjM8k0SvR pic.twitter.com/IGloTqfXyK
— Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty) July 8, 2024
In North Carolina, NC Values urged parents to join Moms for Liberty while blasting Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat.
“Thanks to our liberal Attorney General, gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein — North Carolina was not on the list of states bringing suit,” said NC Values executive director Tami Fitzgerald on the group’s website.
“However, per the decision, every school attended by the children of Moms for Liberty or by members of Female Athletes United and Young America’s Foundation (YAF), will be exempt from implementing these disastrous Title IX changes,” Ms. Fitzgerald said. “This also includes anyone who joins these organizations before the judge’s deadline.
The final rule is now blocked from taking effect in 14 states pending the outcome of lawsuits following temporary injunctions issued by three federal judges in response to multistate lawsuits.
The states covered by the injunctions are Alaska, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, which sued in federal court in Kansas; Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana, which sued in federal court in Louisiana; and Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, which sued in federal court in Kentucky.
In addition, a federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the Title IX rule from being enforced in the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Texas.
In his July 2 decision, U.S. District Judge John Broomes, a Trump appointee, directed the plaintiffs “to file a notice in the record identifying the schools which the members of Young America’s Foundation or Female Athletes United attend, as well as the schools attended by the minor children of the members of Moms for Liberty, on or before July 15, 2024.
“This filing should not identify members of those organizations or the children of any such members. Rather, it should provide notice to Defendants of the schools as to which this order enjoins enforcement of the Final Rule.”
The House on Thursday passed a resolution to reverse the Title IX rule on a party-line vote, with no Democrats in support.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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