The Department of Education recently announced that it was formulating new regulations for Title IX – the landmark 1972 act that banned discrimination on the basis of sex in education.
When Title IX was passed, of course, “sex” meant being male or female.
But the current administration wants to erase those very real categories. The DOE says “sex” must now include: “sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”
Dozens of groups are speaking out against the move, including SAVE, an organization which works to assure “fairness and due process on campus.”
SAVE Founder Ed Bartlett told the Daily Citizen the redefinition “endangers women’s sports,” effectively erasing and marginalizing women, and it “provides the legal basis for pronoun mandates,” violating free speech.
The organization said the DOE’s proposal threatens student privacy and safety, allowing access to restrooms and locker rooms based on a person’s internal, subjective sense of “gender identity.” SAVE pointed to Loudoun County, Virginia, where the school district “approved a new policy on Rights of Transgender and Gender-Expansive Students.”
The group explained the serious sequence of events after that policy was adopted:
During the following three months, a student committed a sexual assault in a girl’s bathroom, a victim’s father was arrested while trying to confront the school board over the incident, high schoolers staged a walk-out to protest the schools’ handling of the incident, teachers sued because the policy violated their First Amendment rights, the School District’s chief of staff was fired, and the case became a focus of heated debate during the race for governor.
SAVE said that the redefinition weaponizes Title IX, endangering children and attacking parental rights:
If the definition of sex is expanded to include “gender identity,” parents will lose their rights to restrict the exposure of young children to curricula on sexual orientation, gender identity, and age-inappropriate discussions of sexual practices. Worse, children could be gender “transitioned” and assigned a new name without their parents’ knowledge or consent, which resulted in a tragic outcome in one case.
Bartlett told the Daily Citizen the draft regulations will violate due process for education staff and students accused of sexual harassment or assault, by allowing for biased investigations, making live hearings and cross-examinations optional, and giving a “free pass to persons who intentionally lie” about such incidents.
SAVE pointed to almost 80 state and national organizations that oppose the proposed regulations, including: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Concerned Women for America, Family Policy Alliance (FPA), Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, The Heritage Foundation, Parents Defending Education and The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
ADF Senior Counsel Christiana Kiefer said:
Fifty years ago, Congress acted to protect equal opportunity for women by passing Title IX. Now, by radically rewriting federal law, the Biden administration is threatening the advancements women have long fought to achieve in education and athletics. In addition to denying women a fair and level playing field in sports, this new rule could impose widespread harms, including threatening the health of adults and children, denying free speech on campus, trampling parental rights, violating religious liberty, and endangering unborn human life.
Redefining “sex” to include “pregnancy or related conditions” could very well lead to DOE mandates that schools provide contraceptive and abortion access to students – or be sued for sex discrimination.
FPA said if the draft rule is approved and goes into effect, the DOE will use its power to:
Force girls to share private spaces like showers, locker rooms, and bathrooms with males.
Force girls to lose sex-specific scholarships to males who identify as female.
Potentially further the LGBT political agenda in public school curriculum and policies.
Silence girls who express concerns about their privacy and safety, shutting down any opposition to transgender ideology by labeling disagreement as “discrimination.”
Allow students to file official harassment claims if they are not addressed by their preferred pronouns, even when those do not align with their biological sex.
The redefinition follows a January 2021 mandate by the White House to every federal agency, requiring them to pursue LGBT policies. Then, in June 2021, a “Notice of Interpretation” by the DOE announced that it was reinterpreting “sex” to include “sexual orientation and gender identity.”
After that notice, the DOE held hearings on pushing “sexual orientation and gender identity” in education, which has now led to the development of these proposed regulations.
Soon, the public will have an opportunity to comment on these draft policies, after which the DOE will undoubtedly move to put them into practice.
The Daily Citizen will keep you posted on the process, letting you know when and how to make your voice heard against this radical move by the agency.
Related articles and resources:
Biden Becomes Nation’s Most Powerful Trans Activist With Executive Order
DOE Holds Hearings on Pushing ‘Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity’ in Education
President Biden Signs Executive Orders to Undo Trump Policies as First Official Act
Responding to “SOGI” Laws—Tone and Truth
Transgenderism Trumping Parents’ Rights
When Sexuality Trumps Religious Freedom — The Problem With “SOGI” Laws
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