Tag: title ix

DOJ launches Title IX probe into California over state law allowing trans athletes to play women’s sports 

The Justice Department opened an inquiry Wednesday into whether a California state law allowing transgender student athletes to compete in women’s sports violates federal Title IX rules against sex discrimination. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, the Jurupa Unified School District and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) were informed of the investigation in “letters of legal notice” sent by the DOJ. 

The CIF oversees high school sports in the state, and the Jurupa Unified School District is home to the school where a transgender track athlete recently won titles in the girls’ long jump and triple jump.

“The investigation is to determine whether California, its senior legal, educational, and athletic organizations, and the school district are engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of sex,” the DOJ said in a statement. 

The probe was opened in response to a lawsuit filed by the families of two girls at a Riverside, Calif., high school, alleging that the state statute “is harming hundreds – if not thousands – of female students by removing opportunities for female athletes to be champions in their own sports, robbing them of podium positions and awards, and creating unsafe and intimidating environments in their bathrooms and locker rooms” — and is at odds with Title IX. 

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Education Department Finds University of Pennsylvania Violated Title IX Over Transgender Swimmer

The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) remains in violation of Title IX regulations lingering from a transgender athlete who won an NCAA women’s swimming title for the school in 2022, and will have 10 days to resolve the issue before the matter is referred to the Department of Justice, federal officials said on April 28.

The announcement was made after the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent the notice of noncompliance to UPenn President Larry Jameson.

Jameson was informed that complying with current NCAA regulations and President Donald Trump’s February executive order prohibiting males from competing in women’s sports is not enough to satisfy compliance requirements. As a punitive measure, the federal government is requiring UPenn to relinquish that athlete’s 2022 championship title and issue an apology to the female athletes he defeated.

The Ivy League school is also expected to issue a statement noting that all its athletic programs comply with Title IX.

Title IX is a federal regulation implemented in 1972 that prohibits educational institutions receiving federal funding from engaging in sex discrimination and assures fairness for NCAA women’s sports programs. President Joe Biden, whose administration preceded Trump’s current term, amended it to allow transgender participation in sports, and Trump reversed that under his executive order.

UPenn must also restore to female athletes their rightful records, titles, and honors, “or similar recognition for Division I swimming competitions misappropriated by male athletes competing in female categories.”

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Education Secretary Linda McMahon Announces New Title IX Special Investigations Team: “We will not permit you to trample on women’s rights any longer”

Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced the creation of the Title IX Special Investigations Team in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The initiative aims to expedite investigations and enforce Title IX regulations to protect female students and athletes, particularly in response to concerns about men participating in women’s sports and accessing women’s restrooms and locker rooms.

McMahon emphasized that this move aligns with the Trump administration’s priority to uphold Title IX, ensuring rapid and consistent action to address potential violations by educational institutions.

McMahon shared the announcement on X.

“Today, the Department of Education, alongside the Department of Justice, is proud to announce the creation of the Title IX Special Investigations Team, consisting of attorneys and investigators from both of our agencies to adjudicate our ever-increasing volume of Title IX investigations.”

“We have received a staggering number of complaints about men competing in women’s sports and invading women-only intimate spaces.”

“That’s why we’re partnering with the County General Bonde’s team to move even faster in order to protect women and girls.”

“The establishment of this team will benefit women and girls across this nation who have been subjected to discrimination and indignity in their educational activities.”

“To all entities receiving federal funding who continue to allow these illegal practices, we will not permit you to trample on women’s rights any longer.”

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Trump’s Dept. of Education Says Maine Violated Title IX by Allowing Males on Female Sports Teams

President Donald Trump’s Department of Education on Wednesday announced that the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) is violating federal civil rights law by allowing boys to play on female sports teams.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a letter to MDOE Commissioner Pender Makin notifying her that MDOE has policies and practices that are in violation of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities receiving federal funding. 

The OCR launched its investigation after a transgender-identifying boy claimed the victory in the Maine Class B championship for the Greely High School girls’ track and field team in February. The high school boy was allowed to perform on the girls’ team, despite Trump’s executive order barring males from participating on female sports teams.

Following Trump’s order, Maine officials publicly said they would not comply, siding with transgender-identifying males over women and girls and citing state law allowing students to play on teams that match their “gender identity.”

“The outcome of OCR’s investigation of MDOE confirms that it has violated federal antidiscrimination law by allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports and boys to occupy girls’ intimate facilities.” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement. 

“Today’s findings and proposed resolution agreement demonstrate to MDOE and any other entity receiving federal funding that the Trump Administration will not tolerate unlawful discrimination against girls and women,” he continued. “If Maine does not swiftly and completely come into compliance with Title IX, we will initiate the process to limit MDOE’s access to federal funding.” 

The OCR proposed a resolution agreement with the MDOE to resolve the Title IX violations and has offered the department ten days to voluntarily agree or “risk imminent enforcement action including referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for proceedings and termination of funds, the DoE said. The OCR’s letter specifically stated that “[s]hould MDOE fail to direct the public school districts in its jurisdiction to adopt and implement policies and practices that comply with Title IX, OCR may initiate additional investigations into such school districts.”

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Biden Withdraws Title IX Plan, Marking Ignominious End To Catherine Lhamon’s Stint At DOE

This past Friday the U.S. Department of Education withdrew the plan to enact its controversial Title IX sports rule. The DOE announced in dry regulatory language, “The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is withdrawing the notice of proposed rulemaking entitled ‘Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams,’ published in the Federal Register on April 13, 2023.”

The Title IX sports rule would have implemented a Marxist vision to remove all social distinctions in society, including differences based on sex. In the words of feminist Shulamith Firestone, the goal was the elimination of the “sex distinction itself: genital differences between human beings would no longer matter culturally…The tyranny of the biological family would be broken.”

On his first day in office on January 20, 2021, president Joe Biden issued an Executive Order ordering all Executive Branch agencies to “prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.”

The Biden plan to issue new Title IX regulations, including the Title IX sports rule, sparked an unprecedented wave of national opposition:

  • A coalition of 240 national, state, and local organizations opposed to the rule came together to establish the Title IX Network.
  • Public opinion polls revealed a strong majority of Americans opposed the plan. 
  • Twenty-five states passed laws banning the participation of men from women’s sports.
  • In August, all nine Supreme Court justices issued a ruling expressing their opposition to the Biden plan to redefine sex to include “gender identity”.

On April 19, 2024 the DOE issued its overall Title IX regulation that changed the definition of sex to include “gender identity.” Commentator Aaron Flanigan warned, “American parents are standing on the precipice of one of the most far-reaching, extremist, and dangerous transformations of the education system in American history.” Within weeks, numerous lawsuits were filed, resulting in federal judges blocking the new policy in 26 states.

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Federal Court Blocks Title IX Expansion to Include Gender Identity in Texas and Montana

A district judge has granted Texas and Montana’s request for a preliminary injunction against the federal government’s attempt “to impose a sweeping new social policy” that allows for Title IX coverage for gender identity.

The ruling follows others in which federal judges have brought Title IX revisions to a halt.

In this most recent decision, Texas District Judge Jeremy Kernodle ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can’t force state health care providers to fund gender-affirming care by threatening them with the loss of federal funding.

In May 2024, HHS issued a press release on its Final Rule, which expanded the definition of Title IX protections in 2016 to include “discrimination based on the basis of gender identity” to fit in with Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Title IX was initially established in 1972 to protect women from discrimination in public education.

“When Congress enacted the ACA in 2010, no agency—or court—had ever interpreted ‘on the basis of sex’ to mean ‘on the basis of gender identity,’” Judge Kernodle wrote. “But in 2016, HHS began to do so, issuing a rule purporting to implement Section 1557 and prohibiting discrimination on the basis of ‘gender identity.’”

Texas and Montana, two states that exclude gender-affirming care procedures from their Medicaid programs and prohibit doctors from performing them on minors, sued HHS, arguing that the federal health department has no authority to mandate that the states adhere to these revisions.

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Utah Joins Growing Number of States Ignoring Biden Admin’s New Title IX Rule

On June 19, the Utah legislature passed resolutions directing state government entities to ignore the Biden administration’s new interpretation of Title IX, joining numerous other states who have opposed the administration’s proposed expansion of anti-discrimination protections.

The two resolutions, HCR301 and HJR301, declare through “legislative findings” that the new rules are an “overreach of federal administrative authority.”

The issue stems from the Biden administration’s proposed interpretative rule, released in April, which would expand the enforceable scope of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act. Title IX bars discrimination “on the basis of sex”; the Biden administration’s new rule interprets this clause as prohibiting discrimination based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” Opponents say the Department of Education’s new rule could force states to allow biological men to play in women’s sports.

The new rule, which uses 423 pages to clarify a clause that is 37 words long, is set to go into effect on August 1.

But whether it will go into effect is increasingly a matter of dispute. With the passage of the recent resolutions, Utah joins a growing number of states—including Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas—that are officially ignoring the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules. Additionally, 26 state Attorneys General have filed lawsuits against the Department of Education challenging its interpretation.

“We are a sovereign state and do not want the federal government telling us what to do,” Utah state Rep. Trevor Lee (R–Layton) told Reason when asked why he voted in favor of the resolutions. “We decided already on these issues as a state.”

Opponents of the law say the new rule is an incorrect interpretation of the statute and does not reflect the intentions of the original lawmakers. “It is concerning how the Executive Branch is unilaterally altering laws, circumventing Congress and compromising due process, thereby exceeding its constitutional authority,” Utah state Sen. Curt Bramble (R–Provo) told Reason.

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Federal Judge Blocks Biden’s Transgender Title IX Changes, Slams Admin for ‘Abuse of Power’

The Biden administration’s revision of Title IX rules to favor transgender students suffered a major defeat Thursday after a federal judge in Louisiana allowed four states to block the rules.

In a ruling that impacts Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and Idaho, U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty demolished the rule issued by the Department of Education that decided that Title IX — the landmark 1972 law banning sex discrimination – should be used to force schools to give in to the demands of transgender students.

“This case demonstrates the abuse of power by executive federal agencies in the rulemaking process. The separation of powers and system of checks and balances exist in this country for a reason,” Doughty wrote, noting that the Biden administration went beyond its authority in imposing a rule that would have drastic fiscal impacts on every school in the nation and affirming that Title IX “was written and intended to protect biological women from discrimination.”

Doughty was appointed by former President Donald Trump, according to USA Today.

The Education Department rules said Title IX, enacted to protect female students from discrimination or harassment, must be used to protect students based on gender identity as well, according to The New York Times.

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Biden Regime Proudly Abolishes Title IX – Will Now Force Women to Allow Biological Men in Their Locker Rooms, On their Team Sports and in Their Bathrooms

On Friday, the Biden regime proudly announced that women will be forced to allow men in their locker rooms and bathrooms with a new 1577-page Title IX ruling.

Women will be forced to compete against men.

And women will be forced to accept men on their sports teams.

Women and young girls will be forced to share locker rooms and bathrooms based on gender identity rather than biological sex.

And, as May Mailman, Director of Independent Women’s Law Center, notes, Title IX is not a college law.  This will impact girls as young as those in the Headstart program, geared to children from three to five-years old, those in daycare, and those in Kindergarten through 12th grade.

Young girls everywhere will be subject to the type of sexual exposure allegedly faced by the female athletes forced to share a locker room with trans swimmer Lia Thomas.

Preferred pronouns are also now mandated, and even the single use of the “wrong” pronoun can require discipline.

They believe this is progress.

Title IX is now a thing of the past.

The new rules cement protections for L.G.B.T.Q. students under federal law. Additionally, it reverses Trump-era policies, including one that protects women by dictating how schools should respond to cases of alleged sexual misconduct in K-12 schools and college campuses.

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Harvard Tells Students: ‘Using Wrong Pronouns’ Constitutes ‘Abuse’

Welcome to Harvard!

“Fatphobia” and “cisheterosexism” perpetuate “violence.” “Using the wrong pronouns” constitutes “abuse.” And “any words used to lower a person’s self-worth” are “Verbal Abuse.” Those are just a handful of the things the school told all undergraduate students in a mandatory Title IX training session, according to materials reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

The online training, which all undergraduates were required to complete in order to enroll in courses, includes a “Power and Control Wheel” to help students identify “harmful” conduct. Outside the wheel are attitudes that “contribute to an environment that perpetuates violence,” a voiceover from the training states, including “sizeism and fatphobia,” “cisheterosexism,” “racism,” “transphobia,” “ageism,” and “ableism.”

Inside the wheel are behaviors that the school says constitute “abuse” and could violate its Title IX policies. “We all have an essential role to play in creating a community that cultivates gender equity and inclusion,” Harvard College dean Rakesh Khurana told students in a video introducing the training. “Completing this course is a critical step in establishing a shared understanding of the values here at Harvard College.”

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