The Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to extend Title IX protections to transgender students was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court last week.
The nation’s highest court rejected the administration’s attempt to interpret Title IX in a way that would have permitted students who identify as male or female to use the restrooms, locker rooms, and dorms of the other sex, as well as to codify the practice of allowing men to compete against women in ten states where such behavior is prohibited. The court’s decision came down in a 5-4 vote.
In April, the Biden Administration unveiled significant modifications, claiming that discrimination on the basis of gender identity, sexual orientation, and “pregnancy or related conditions” is covered by Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools.
More than two dozen Republican attorneys general sued the government after the regulation went into effect on August 1, claiming it violated state laws that prevent biological men from participating in women’s sports. Additionally, they contended that the government was trying to interpret Title IX differently than Congress had intended.
One argument made by the Biden Administration was that athletics would not be impacted by the new regulations, despite the fact that experts have provided evidence to the contrary.
However, the Supreme Court dismissed the administration’s concerns on Friday.
“On this limited record and in its emergency applications, the Government has not provided this Court a sufficient basis to disturb the lower courts’ interim conclusions that the three provisions found likely to be unlawful are intertwined with and affect other provisions of the rule,” the court wrote.
A petition signed by 102 female athletes requested that the Supreme Court consider a case challenging state statutes that prohibit biological men from participating in women’s sports earlier this week. The petitioners contended that fair competition is impossible due to biological disparities in strength.
“A growing number of women and girls have been facing the humiliating and damaging experience of being forced to compete against males who identify as transgender in the women’s sports category,” says a filing obtained by the Washington Times.
“It is hard to express the pain, humiliation, frustration and shame women experience when they are forced to compete against males in sport. It is public shaming and suffering, an exclusion from women’s own category,” the filing continued.
In 2018, Harris was a U.S. senator and opposed Title IX modifications implemented by the Trump administration’s Department of Education. These changes necessitated hearings for allegations of sexual harassment following years of false accusations against several students. When Biden took office, he promptly undid those modifications, even though Harris had backed them. She also put her signature on a letter requesting that the Trump Education Department reverse its newly proposed rule.
Former collegiate swimming champion Riley Gaines, who has since taken up the fight of women’s rights in sports, outlined four of the most “dangerous” Title IX amendments that Biden-Harris is seeking in an op-ed for Fox News Digital earlier this month.
“One of the most alarming aspects of these changes is the fact men are taking scholarships meant for women, both academically and athletically. This change is more severe than the obvious unfairness of men competing with women,” she wrote. “The scholarships that women receive are often a lifeline to a better future they might not have been awarded otherwise.”
Moreover, she contended, it is a recipe for problems to allow biological guys access to women’s dorms and locker rooms. She said, “It’s like the fox guarding the henhouse when a college-aged man has unfettered access to women’s living quarters and intimate areas like locker rooms.”
She went on, “Under the new Title IX rewrite, any student, faculty member, coach, employee or persons affiliated with a program that receives federal funding would be required to use biologically incorrect pronouns under the guide of preventing ‘hate speech.’ If you do not follow these rules, you would be violating a federal law, potentially resulting in sexual harassment charges or a loss of funding.”
Lastly, the Biden-Harris amendments expose men to the possibility of being wrongly accused of harassment.
“Title IX changes could make it easier for accusations to lead to severe penalties without adequate evidence. This shift could undermine the fundamental principle of innocent until proven guilty, turning campuses into environments where due process is a secondary consideration,” Gaines wrote.
