Christian school association joins lawsuit to oppose Biden administration mandate allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports

The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) has joined 20 attorneys general in a lawsuit against the Biden Administration mandate that interprets Title IX protections in such a way that biological males who identify as female would be allowed to compete against female student athletes.

One of the pressing concerns—inside and outside of Christian education—is about maintaining fairness in women’s sports. Even Christian schools who do not receive federal funding (and therefore do not have Title IX restrictions) will potentially be affected as their female student-athletes will play against schools who must abide by Title IX rules, raising the possibility they will play against biological male athletes. 

Larry Taylor, President of ACSI, told The Lion:

The majority of our schools understand the general ramifications of the impact transgender athletes will have on competition, especially for our female athletes. We are informing our schools of the details and consequences of the Biden Administration’s mandate. There has been an overwhelmingly positive response and expression of gratefulness for ACSI’s proactive advocacy efforts on their behalf.

In joining the lawsuit, the ACSI wishes “to protect the safety, dignity, and fair competition for female students, to affirm the recognition of the biological fact of differences between the sexes, and to support the rights of individuals to hold to a biblical view of creation and sex.”

The original lawsuit was filed by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, TN. A motion in the case was filed last week by the Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of the ACSI and three Arkansas female athletes. The motion argues, in part, that 

ACSI member schools cannot fairly, or safely, compete against other public schools in female athletics. And the female athletes at ACSI member schools lose the chance to compete on an even playing field.

States other than Tennessee in the suit include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia.