President Joe Biden's Department of Education has abandoned a proposed rule change that would have occurred Punitive schools To prevent transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.
Issued by the Ministry of Education agenda On Friday, it announced its withdrawal of the proposal. The Biden administration proposed changing the rule in April 2023. The proposal was titled “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Educational Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Standards for Male and Female Sports Teams.”
The rule would have formally prohibited individual states from prohibiting participation in individual sports by gender identity rather than just sex. There are 23 states in the United States that have legislation in place to restrict transgender athletes from competing as females in public school sports.
The lawsuit claims that the original intent of Biden's proposal was to “propose a regulatory standard under Title IX that would govern a recipient's adoption or application of sex-related standards that would limit or deny a student's eligibility to participate on a male or female athletic team.” consistent with their sexual identity.”
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The administration claims its decision to withdraw comes after hearing testimony during the suspension period, but ongoing lawsuits also played a role in the decision.
“The Department is aware that there are numerous pending lawsuits related to the application of Title IX in the context of gender identity, including lawsuits related to the application of Title IX to athletic eligibility standards in a variety of factual contexts. In light of the comments received and those various cases pending before the court, “The Department has decided not to regulate this case at this time.”
The withdrawal comes at the end of an election year when the current administration has taken multiple blows for its efforts to enable the inclusion of transgender people in women's sports.
Multiple states have filed lawsuits and enacted their own laws to address the issue after the Biden-Harris administration issued a sweeping rule clarifying that Title IX's ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, and “pregnancy or related matters.” . conditions.”
The administration insisted that the regulation did not address athletic eligibility. However, many experts Evidence provided She told Fox News Digital in June that she would eventually put more biological men in women's sports.
In August, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to deny the administration's emergency request to enforce parts of a new rule that includes anti-discrimination protections for transgender students under Title IX. It will be a request Biological men are allowed In women's bathrooms, locker rooms and dorms in 10 states where there are state and local rules to prevent it. Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch was the only conservative justice to dissent.
Democrats have proposed other federal legislation that would allow more transgender people to be included in women's sports. This record of support became the subject of a nationwide backlash during the election cycle, which Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump exploited as a major campaign issue.
That includes past Democratic support for transgender inclusion Equality Actwhich was proposed in 2019 and has seen revisions that “would force public schools to allow biologically male athletes who identify as transgender on girls’ sports teams.”
In March 2023, Democrats called for and proposed a transgender rights bill resolution “Recognizing that it is the duty of the federal government to develop and implement a Transgender Bill of Rights.” The resolution specifically called for a federal law ensuring that biological men can “participate in team sports and in programs that best align with their gender identity; (and) use school facilities that best align with their gender identity.”
On the other side of the party, Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little issued an executive order in August to enforce the Defense of Women's Sports Act, which would require schools and colleges to ban transgender athletes in women's sports.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Little acknowledged concern that his order could have resulted in his state's public schools losing federal funding if Kamla Harris became the 47th president.
“We'll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Little said. “From a national standpoint, there are small extremist groups that want to implement changes to the rules we already have. I'm confident in what we have, and we will (act) aggressively, as Idaho, both legally and legally.” Legislatively, to protect female athletes and the great progress they have made because of Title IX.”
But even states with these laws in force had to endure their continuation within their borders due to the intervention of liberal federal judges.
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Several federal judges under Obama issued rulings allowing transgender inclusion in girls' sports. Both Justice Landia McCafferty in New Hampshire and Justice Hannah Lauck of Virginia issued rulings this year that enabled biological males to play on high school girls' soccer and tennis teams. Both judges were appointed by Obama in early 2010.
However, Democrats slowly backed away from their support for transgender inclusion as the year went on. Several Democrats, including Texas Rep. Collin Allred, have backed away from previous support for transgender inclusion in women's sports.
This trend continued after the election when Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton spoke out against his party's stance and actions in enabling transgender inclusion in multiple interviews, sparking backlash and even a massive pro-trans demonstration outside his office.
And now, in the final weeks of the Biden administration, it has also issued a major capitulation on the issue as the party continues to debate its position and move forward.
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