Eight more states join resistance to Biden’s ‘illegal’ expansion of Title IX to include transgenderism

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order Thursday directing educational institutions to follow state, not federal, guidance on sex discrimination under Title IX.

At least eight states have now joined the first five in openly defying the Biden administration’s unilateral, possibly unconstitutional, new Title IX rule to mandate the inclusion of biological males in girls’ and women’s sports.

“According to the rule, sex is no longer based on the commonly understood biological differences between men and women,” Sanders said. “It’s based on how a person feels or their gender identity.

“I can’t think of anything more offensive or dismissive of the very real, very scientific traits that all women share and that no man does.”  

Among other things, her executive order prevents students from being forced to shower or undress around members of the opposite sex.  

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and State Superintendent Eric Mackey likewise released a joint statement advising schools not to change their current Title IX policies.  

“Yesterday, the State of Alabama filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s recently announced rule on Title IX,” the April 30 statement read. “The new rule seeks to expand the meaning of ‘sex’ to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Compliance with the rule may run afoul of relevant state law.  

“Please be advised that no public school district in the State of Alabama should take any step to implement the new Title IX rule at this time. Further guidance will be provided as the litigation proceeds and before the rule takes effect on August 1, 2024.”  

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador also joined several of his colleagues in filing a lawsuit against the Biden administration.  

“It should be the legislature that changes the laws of the United States,” Labrador explained. “But they’re not willing to do that because they know that the American public is not with them on this issue, and they know that they’re not going to be able to pass it through the legislative body.”  

Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield denounced the Title IX rewrite as well, and lent her support to the state’s lawsuit.  

Additionally, a coalition of states – Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia – are suing the U.S. Department of Education for allegedly violating the constitutional separation of powers. Like Idaho’s Labrador, they argue the power to reinterpret Title IX rests with the legislative branch, not the executive.  

Title IX was originally passed in 1972 to prevent sex-based discrimination in education. It broke down barriers for women, particularly female athletes, but many warn it could be completely undermined by transgender ideology.  

Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Louisiana also have steadfastly opposed Biden’s apparent rewriting of federal law.  

“Texas will not allow Joe Biden to rewrite Title IX at whim, destroying legal protections for women in furtherance of his radical obsession with gender ideology,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said. “This attempt to subvert federal law is plainly illegal, undemocratic, and divorced from reality.” 

Other state education leaders – such as Ryan Walters of Oklahoma and Ellen Weaver of South Carolina – have advised local school districts not to change their policies while the matter is being litigated.