On Friday, the Biden administration released its long-awaited regulation that amends Title IX and redefines “sex” in federal law to include “gender identity.”

This effectively erases “woman” as a protective category because it allows any male to claim that as an “identity.”

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) released the “Final Rule under Title IX” on April 19, claiming it “prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance.” The DOE said the final regulation “promote[s] educational equity and opportunity for students across the country as well as accountability and fairness.”

It does no such thing.

“For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in our nation’s schools free from sex discrimination,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights.”

Make no mistake – this is a radical rewrite of federal law that will have drastic consequences – especially for women.

Title IX was enacted as a part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal funds.

Title IX has been wholly successful, providing millions of women with opportunities to compete and earn scholarships they otherwise would not have received. Before Title IX, only 1 in 27 girls played sports. Now, that number is 2 in 5.

Photo Credit: The Harvard Gazette

Title IX states:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

The DOE is tasked with creating rules that implement Title IX. The DOE’s newly published rule – which clocks in at over 1,500 pages – stipulates that “sex discrimination” will now also include discrimination on the basis of “sex stereotypes,” “sex characteristics,” “pregnancy,” “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”

The new regulation is effective August 1, 2024.

In practice, redefining “sex” to include “gender identity” defeats the purpose of Title IX entirely because it utterly redefines “biological sex.”

The new regulation means that any educational institution that receives federal funding (i.e. public schools, colleges, and some private schools) must permit men to access women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports – under threat from the full legal might of the federal government.

Title IX – which was enacted to promote and protect the rights and opportunities for women – will now be used to ensure men can steal opportunities, scholarships, competitions and awards from women, and enter their private spaces.

Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Sarah Parshall Perry said in a statement,

Under the new rule, girls and women will no longer have any sex-separated bathrooms, locker rooms, housing accommodations, or other educational programs. Women’s sports are likely endangered too. Any education institution, including many private schools that receive even nominal federal funding, will be affected by this rule.

Perry added that the rule also “erases free speech protections for students and teachers who don’t want to use ‘preferred pronouns,’ and parents’ right to know if their child is in the process of a gender identity ‘social transition’ at school.”

She called on Congress to challenge the rule “by clearly defining men and women and stopping the Department of Education’s attempt to manipulate federal law to cater to a small, but vocal and well-funded minority.”

May Mailman, director of Independent Women’s Law Center, also spoke out against the new regulation, highlighting the harm it will have on women.

Undoubtedly, the fate of the Final Rule under Title IX will be decided by federal courts – and perhaps by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) President Kristen Waggoner said ADF is currently preparing a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the new rule. “See you in court, @POTUS” she wrote.

The DOE’s new regulation is perhaps one of the most far reaching and radical changes to a federal rule ever published by the U.S. Department of Education. It will have drastic and dire societal consequences, touching the lives of practically every student in America.

In effect, it is a wholesale, unilateral rewrite of the most basic facts of human existence – humans are made male and female.

Christians, conservatives, and all people of good will should adamantly oppose the DOE’s new rule, and make their voices heard, letting their representatives know they oppose the Department of Education’s Final Rule under Title IX and encouraging them to hold the DOE accountable.

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What is ‘Gender Identity’

Photo from Getty Images.