After the Biden administration proposed changes to Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to interpret the Act as protecting people against discrimination on the basis of gender identity as well as biological sex, universities across the country took it upon themselves to make changes to their own programs to reflect that proposal. Tennessee schools were put on notice by a local lawmaker.
In response, State Representative John Ragan of Oak Ridge sent a letter to state schools letting them know that these changes conflating biological sex with gender identity, which are two drastically different things, were merely proposed and have not yet been enacted under federal law. Tennessee is one of 20 states that have filed suit against the Department of Education to prevent the changes from going into effect.
These states, led by Attorneys General in Tennessee, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia, have told the Department of Education that their proposed directive would force educational institutions in their states to violate state law.
"Universities are not at liberty to ignore state law, regardless of their accreditation or certification organizations say they most have to get their accreditation. These are not governmental entities, and as such universities must follow state law over and above what these organizations tell them," Ragan wrote to Tennessee schools.
Tennessee is among those states that prohibit biological males from playing on women's sports teams, and using women's locker rooms and bathroom facilities, despite their gender identity. Following Biden's proposed changes to Title IX would put those schools in violation of state law.
The University of Tennessee told Ragan that they "did not modify its publications, policies, or websites relating to Title IX in response to either the June 23, 2021 letter from the U.S. Department of Education or the injunction issued on July 15, 2022, by the federal district court."
This suit from Attorneys General led to an injunction by a federal judge to prohibit the Biden administration from withholding funding from educational institutions that do not abide by their new definition of Title IX. The Department of Education will have to wait until their proposed changes are final before penalizing institutions for safeguarding women and women's athletic opportunities.
A nationwide poll recently showed that most Americans believe that biological males should not be permitted to play on women's sports teams, regardless of their gender identity.
The proposed Title IX changes were drafted after President Joe Biden, on his first day in office, signed an executive order requiring all federal agencies to look at their programs and policies and find ways to incorporate anti-discrimination practices for LGBTQ+ persons, specifically as regards gender identity.
The Department of Education took a look at their policies under Title IX, and determined that equal access to sports and education for women would no longer be a priority, but that they would require educational institutions to facilitate the participation of biological males in female sports. This in the name of gender equity, with no consideration for women and their biological sex.
Biden's order under Section 1 reads: "The head of each agency shall... review all existing orders, regulations, guidance documents, policies, programs, or other agency actions... that: ...prohibits sex discrimination, including any that relate to the agency’s own compliance with such statutes or regulations..."
"The head of each agency shall... consider whether to revise, suspend, or rescind such agency actions, or promulgate new agency actions, as necessary to fully implement statutes that prohibit sex discrimination and the policy set forth in section 1 of this order.
"The head of each agency shall... consider whether there are additional actions that the agency should take to ensure that it is fully implementing the policy set forth in section 1 of this order." If so, that agency "...shall seek to ensure that it is accounting for, and taking appropriate steps to combat, overlapping forms of discrimination, such as discrimination on the basis of race or disability." This was meant to be done within 100 days.
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