Ohio Board of Education pushes back against Biden administration, affirms original intent of Title IX

The Ohio Board of Education (OBE) voted 10-7 Tuesday to pass a resolution affirming Title IX and parental rights.

The non-biding resolution’s purpose is “to provide clarity for schools and districts on the status of proposed Title IX changes, and to protect the rights and opportunities of women and girls and the inviolable rights of parents,” writes Brendan Shea, author of the resolution and a homeschool father.

Interpreting Title IX became more difficult in 2021 after President Joe Biden signed an executive order expanding the definition of sex-based discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

As The Lion previously reported, the Biden administration has been sued for its reinterpretation. Dave Yost, Ohio attorney general and recently elected president of the National Association of Attorney Generals, is one such plaintiff, alongside 21 other state attorneys general.

In July the U.S. Department of Education “proposed regulatory changes to Title IX that contradict the plain language of the original law, illegally bypass the legislative process, and undermine the very protections for female students that Title IX sought to provide,” says OBE’s resolution.

Biden’s proposed changes would explicitly allow biological males to compete in women’s sports and encourage schools to transition minors to different genders without parental consent, “compelling schools to deny biological reality,” the resolution says.

OBE’s resolution affirms the biological differences between men and women and the original intent of Title IX to protect individuals from sex-based discrimination. It also quotes the Supreme Court in its affirmation of the primary role of parents “as an enduring American tradition.”

Finally, the resolution supports the original interpretation of Title IX, the efforts of Attorney General Yost, and the safeguarding of parental rights.

Kaleidescope Youth Center (KYC), a nonprofit organization that supports queer youth, criticized the resolution.

“We are deeply disappointed that elected and appointed members of the Ohio State Board of Education would misuse their power and influence in this harmful way,” said Erin Upchurch, executive director of KYC. 

However, many Ohioans applauded the resolution.

“Encouraging the choice of ‘pronouns’ and encounters with opposite-sex kids in bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers actually makes schools culpable for the anxiety, bullying and possible physical abuse which school authorities are tasked to prevent,” said Susan Kleine, a retired clinical counselor.

All Ohio public schools will be notified of the resolution by mail within 21 days.