OKLAHOMA CITY – Attorney General John O’Connor has joined a coalition of 15 state attorneys general calling on the Biden Administration to halt its efforts to promote men competing with women in high school and college sports. President Biden’s Department of Education is seeking to rewrite federal Title IX rules to, among other problematic changes, expand the term sex to include gender identity.
The U.S. Department of Education’s upcoming rulemaking would conflict with state laws that protect athletic scholarship opportunities for women. Last week, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed the Save Women’s Sports Act, which requires each interscholastic athlete to participate under his or her biological sex at birth.
Attorney General O’Connor and the other attorneys general said in their letter to Catherine Lhamon, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, that the Department has failed to provide sufficient justification for new rulemaking and warned the Department not to “illegally re-write Title IX to include gender identity.” They further warned that, if necessary, they will take legal action to protect their state laws against federal encroachment.
Education policy experts, civil rights leaders, public interest attorneys, women’s groups, and parent advocates have also asked the Department of Education to disband its efforts to weaken the rules enacted under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs and activities at schools and colleges that receive federal funds. This law has provided many girls and women opportunities to compete in sports and to earn scholarships to attend high schools and colleges.
"For fifty years, Title IX has protected athletic and educational opportunities for girls and women. Adding 'gender identity' to the defenition of 'sex' in Title IX will reduce those opportunities," noted General O'Connor. "We will fight as much as necessary to uphold Title IX's plain meaning and safeguard the integrity of women's sports."
Current Title IX rules adopted in 2020 codified regulations regarding sexual harassment under Title IX into law for the first time, setting forth clear legal obligations for schools to respond to allegations of sexual harassment, a process to resolve allegations, and provide remedies to victims. Now, the Biden Administration intends to rollback those historic rules and use Title IX to impose its fanatical agenda on students, parents, and schools.
“The Department has provided no rationale for why the 2020 Rule has proven unworkable or in need of adjustment,” the letter states. “Modifying or eliminating the 2020 Rule now will only add to the uncertainty and regulatory burden on schools, parents, teachers, and students across America. We strongly urge the Department to cancel its plans to engage in rulemaking on Title IX.”
“We are also concerned that an interpretation of Title IX that goes beyond sex to include gender identity has and will be used by to improperly intrude into parental decision-making regarding the education and upbringing of their children,” the attorneys general wrote. “An interpretation of Title IX that supports such radical positions runs contrary to the role of the Department of Education, the text of Title IX, and parents’ constitutional right to decide what is in the best interests of their children.”
The current Title IX rules also guarantee victims of sexual harassment and accused students clear procedural rights and provide protections for victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. These rules fix enormous problems created under President Obama’s Education Department and provide a better, more reliable system for victims and accused students.
Hundreds of successful lawsuits against schools for denying basic due process and widespread criticism from across the ideological spectrum arose from the Obama-era rules. The rules also resulted in a disproportionate number of expulsions and scholarship losses for Black male students.
Attorneys general from the following states are also a part of the effort: Montana, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Texas.
