Third Court Halts DOE’s Title IX Rewrite, Girls’ Sports & Spaces Preserved

A third federal court has stopped the Biden administration’s rewrite of Title IX, which redefined “sex” in federal law to include “gender identity.”

On April 19, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released its “Final Rule under Title IX,” amending the regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Under the new rule, any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance must prohibit “discrimination” on the basis of “gender identity.”

The DOE claims the rule “prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance.”

But it does no such thing.

This radical change effectively abolishes the original purpose of Title IX: to provide equal opportunities for girls and women in education.

It essentially erases “woman” as a protective category by allowing any male to claim it as an “identity,” thereby permitting men to access women’s locker rooms, bathrooms and sports.

As a result of the new rule, various lawsuits (at least seven) have been filed against the DOE’s rule.

One such lawsuit was filed by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), representing parents, students, and female athletes; the attorneys general from Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming; and Southeastern Legal Foundation on behalf of Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation.

ADF filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.

On July 2, U.S. District Judge John Broomes enjoined the DOE from enforcing its rule while the lawsuit plays out. The order applies to the states of Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming; the schools attended by members of Young America’s Foundation or Female Athletes United; as well as schools attended by the children of members of Moms for Liberty.

Judge Broomes’ ruling is the third such ruling prohibiting the Final Rule from going into effect; there are now 14 states protected from the Final Rule.

“The Biden administration’s radical redefinition of sex won’t just rewire our educational system,” said ADF Legal Counsel Rachel Rouleau:

It means girls will be forced to undress in locker rooms and share hotel rooms with boys on overnight school trips, teachers and students will have to refrain from speaking truthfully about biological sex, and girls will lose their right to fair competition in sports.

The court was right to halt the administration’s illegal efforts to rewrite Title IX while this critical lawsuit continues.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who argued the case before the court on June 20, said in a statement, “We have had many wins in court, but to me, this is the biggest one yet,” adding,

It protects girls and women across the country from having their privacy rights and safety violated in bathrooms and locker rooms and from having their freedom of speech violated if they say there are only two sexes.

The Final Rule is arguably the most far-reaching and consequential change to a federal rule the DOE has ever published, touching the lives of practically every student in America.

There are still four more lawsuits against the Final Rule pending in various courts around the nation. Please pray that more states – and therefore more girls and women – will be protected from the DOE’s Final Rule.

Consider making your voice heard, letting your representative know you oppose the Department of Education’s “Final Rule under Title IX,” and encouraging them to hold the DOE accountable.

The case is State of Kansas v. U.S. Department of Education.

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Related articles and resources:

Second Federal Court Halts DOE’s Title IX Rewrite – Protecting Girls’ Sports & Spaces

Court Rules Against DOE’s Title IX Rewrite, Saving Women’s Sports & Spaces – For Now

Huge Title IX Win: Department of Education’s 2021 Interpretation Ruled ‘Unlawful’

Gov. Sanders’ Powerful Speech Defending Girls’ Sports: ‘We Will Not Comply’

Title IX Redefinition of ‘Sex’ Faces Defiance and a Flood of Lawsuits

Florida and Oklahoma Reject Biden Admin’s Rule Letting Men into Women’s Bathrooms and Sports

New Biden Admin. Rule Lets Men into Women’s Locker Rooms, Bathrooms and Sports

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