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Biden’s Title IX Rule Goes Into Effect, Blocked in 26 States

Posted on by darion

Title IX changes enacted by President Joe Biden’s administration went into effect Thursday, allowing men to use women’s private spaces, participate in sports and have educational opportunities.

The White House has not apparently issued any statement or taken a position on the rule’s passage, and Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden have not issued any statements or posted on social media on the matter either.

“Today, the Biden-Harris administration’s harmful Title IX rule goes into effect,” said Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer forced to compete against a man. “This rule says that sex = gender identity. Fifty-two years of progress and protections based on sex have been erased with the stroke of a pen.”

Experts like Sarah Parshall Perry of The Heritage Foundation predict that the legal challenge to the rule change could end up in the Supreme Court, hoping the justices will clarify the issue of educational equity for women and girls.

“Returning to school will be a very different experience for the millions of students whose state lawmakers will bow to this radical attempt to roll back protections for women — all so a small, vocal, and well-funded minority can be ‘validated,’” Perry said in a statement Thursday.

“In more than half the country, girls and women will no longer have separate toilets, locker rooms, accommodation or other educational programmes. Women’s sports will likely also be cut off,” she added.

On Wednesday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction on behalf of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina that blocks Biden’s rule from taking effect in those states. The move reversed a decision by Judge Annemarie Carney Axon of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, who denied their appeal to have the rule dismissed, according to 1819 News.

The lawsuit was also joined by Independent Women’s Forum, Parents Defending Education and Speech First.

“This is a major victory in our fight to protect children,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement. “We argued that the Biden administration did not have the authority to make this change, and with this temporary injunction, we now have time to present our case in court without putting our children in danger.”

According to Inside Higher Ed, the legislation has been blocked by federal judges in 26 states.

The Biden administration on April 19 released a new version of Title IX, which was originally enacted in 1972 to protect women and girls. The administration said the highly controversial new version promotes “the promise of Title IX to ensure that no individual experiences sex discrimination, including sex-based harassment or sexual violence, in federally funded education.”

“For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised equal opportunities to learn and thrive in our nation’s schools, free from discrimination based on sex,” U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said at the time. “This final rule builds on Title IX’s legacy by making clear that all of our nation’s students can benefit from schools that are safe, welcoming, and respectful of their rights.”

Biden’s rule on more than 50 years of civil rights law redefines sex to include gender identity and sexual orientation, allowing men to use girls’ and women’s restrooms, locker rooms, housing and educational programs. It also opens the door for men to play on girls’ and women’s sports teams and threatens educational institutions that receive federal funding but want to protect women’s spaces.