transgender

Victory for Girls Sports: Court Halts DOE Redefinition of Sex

In a tremendous victory for girls and women’s sports, a federal district court overturned the Department of Education’s redefinition of “sex” in Title IX to include “gender identity.” The ruling strikes down the DOE’s redefinition nationwide.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, in a case against the DOE brought by six states, ruled:

The Final Rule and its corresponding regulations exceed the Department’s authority under Title IX, violate the Constitution, and are the result of arbitrary and capricious agency action.

The court added:

When Title IX is viewed in its entirety, it is abundantly clear that discrimination on the basis of sex means discrimination on the basis of being a male or female. …

As this Court and others have explained, expanding the meaning of “on the basis of sex” to include “gender identity” turns Title IX on its head.

The Education Amendments Act of 1972 was designed to give girls and women equal opportunities in education and to keep them from being discriminated against.

But changing the definition of sex meant that males who claim to be females could take educational and sports opportunities from girls and women. It also meant those males could violate the privacy and safety of women in locker rooms, showers and restrooms.

The DOE, under Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, announced the new definition in April 2024, saying:

Discrimination on the basis of sex includes discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

As the Daily Citizen has previouslyreported, this lead to defiance and a flood of lawsuits from states, organizations and individuals opposed to males invading girls and women’s private spaces and taking opportunities, scholarships and prizes from them.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed the lawsuit on behalf of Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, and West Virginia, alleging:

The sweeping Title IX mandate would upend schools’ long-lawful practices protecting student privacy, unfairly undermine women’s academic and athletic achievements and related advancement in society, and punish States for following their laws.

Later, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) joined Tennessee’s suit, intervening on behalf of Christian Educators Association International and a female track and field athlete from West Virginia, “A.C.”

ADF’s complaint explained that a male athlete was allowed to join her middle school girls track and field team and access the girls locker rooms. He also made “sexual and harassing comments to A.C. while they competed together on the girls sports team.”

ADF CEO, President, and General Counsel Kristen Waggoner celebrated the victory, saying:

This is a colossal win for women and girls across the country. The Biden administration’s radical attempt to redefine sex not only tossed fairness, safety, and privacy for female students out the window, it also threatened free speech and parental rights. With this ruling, the federal court in Kentucky rejected the entire Biden rule and the administration’s illegal actions. 

Skrmetti likewise applauded the decision in a statement, saying, “This is a huge win for Tennessee, for common sense, and for women and girls across America.”

The case is State of Tennessee v Cardona.

Related articles and resources:

ADF: Victory for women, girls: Federal court rejects Biden admin redefinition of ‘sex’ in Title IX across country

Biden Becomes Nation’s Most Powerful Trans Activist With Executive Order

Court Rules Against DOE’s Title IX Rewrite, Saving Women’s Sports & Spaces – For Now

Florida and Oklahoma Reject Biden Admin’s Rule Letting Men into Women’s Bathrooms and Sports

New Biden Admin. Rule Lets Men into Women’s Locker Rooms, Bathrooms and Sports

On 50th Anniversary of Title IX, Groups Fight to Protect Women’s Sports

Second Federal Court Halts DOE’s Title IX Rewrite – Protecting Girls’ Sports & Spaces

Third Court Halts DOE’s Title IX Rewrite, Girls’ Sports & Spaces Preserved

Image credit: ADF

Parents Support Core Subjects, Keep Males out of Female Sports

A new poll from Parents Defending Education (PDE) shows what parents support – and oppose – in key education areas such as boys in girls sports and private spaces, educational freedom, and the need for schools to focus on core subjects.

The poll also looked at parents’ views about gender ideology, “grading for equity” to “address racial disparities in grading,” and schools withholding information from parents.

PDE, founded in 2021, describes itself as “a national grassroots organization working to reclaim our schools from activists promoting harmful agendas.”

The organization publishes an online “IndoctriNation Map,” where parents and concerned citizens publish information about radical activism in public schools. PDE also identifies parent organizations in each state that oppose extreme ideologies and fight for parental rights in education and students’ privacy and safety.

The survey of 1,000 parents across the country with children 18 years old or younger was conducted for PDE by CRC Research.

Almost three-fourths of the parents (73%) were young, between the ages of 18 and 44, and their responses were generally conservative. It’s clear that parents want quality education for their children, free from ideologies that sexualize and confuse them.

Here are some key findings from the survey:

  • 96% of the parents supported educational freedom, agreeing “that parents should be able to choose the best educational option for their child.”
  • While 60% said they would keep their children in their current school, 19% of parents said that, given the option, they would move their children to a different school. Another 16% said they would homeschool their children, given the option.
  • In terms of what schools should teach, 90% of those surveyed said schools should focus “core subject areas, such as math, reading, writing, science and social studies.”
  • 72% of parents somewhat or strongly oppose “‘grading for equity’ to address racial disparities in grading.”
  • Only 14% of parents thought schools were “good” at “enforcing student behavior policies,” while 58% said schools were “fair” and 36% said they were “poor.” 96% of parents want “clearly stated and enforced expectations when it comes to maintaining order in classrooms.”
  • 80% of the parents surveyed disagreed with schools helping children change their “gender identity” without notifying parents, and 75% oppose school employees “withholding information about a child’s gender identity from parents.” 77% want parents to be informed “if their child wants to use a different name or pronoun at school.”
  • Parents want sex-segregated sports and private spaces, with 78% opposing males on girls teams and 77% opposing males who “identify as females” in “female bathrooms and locker rooms and vice versa.”

In a statement about the results, PDE president Nicole Neily commented:

These results highlight that parents are dissatisfied with a number of elements of the modern American education system – and that there is broad-based consensus that it’s time for schools to get back to basics.
For far too long, federal bureaucrats have sacrificed the needs of students and families in order to appease unions’ and activists’ insatiable demands for money and power.

PDE’s director of Outreach, Erika Sanzi, concluded that parents want to be informed when their child struggles with mental health issues like gender identity:

This poll shows overwhelming opposition to school personnel withholding information from parents about their child’s gender identity at school. …
It’s refreshing to see even more confirmation that people think this ubiquitous trend of facilitating gender transitions behind the backs of parents is complete madness and needs to stop.

If you’re concerned about what your child is being taught in school, check out this updated, free resource from Focus on the Family and Family Policy Alliance: Equipping Parents for Back-to-School.

We want parents to feel confident and equipped to manage issues affecting public – and private and online – schooling. The FREE downloadable resource helps you be aware of what’s going on in your child’s classroom and offers guidance for how to advocate for your child in the school year ahead.

Related articles:

Focus on the Family: Putting Children First in Education

Focus on the Family Parenting: Thriving Student

Is ‘Critical Race Theory’ Being Taught in Public Schools? CRT Deniers Claim it Isn’t

Is it ‘Book Banning’ to Keep Sexually Explicit Books out of Schools?

Reading and Math Scores Plummeted During Pandemic, New Report Finds

Sexualizing Schoolchildren: Classroom and Library Books

Students’ Test Scores Tank After School Consults ‘Woke Kindergarten’

Image from Shutterstock.

Rape Victims Must Refer to Male Rapist in Court with ‘She/Her’ Pronouns

Here is another example of the flat-out crazy and abusiveness of progressive ideology today … and how it works itself out in real life, with real victims.

In California, a judge has ruled a district attorney and the rape victims she is representing must use the “preferred pronouns” of their alleged male rapist. The judge ruled they must all dutifully refer to this horrible man in court as “she/her.”

Tremaine Carroll, age 52, is described by the district attorney as a “career criminal.” The convicted sex offender got himself placed into a woman’s prison by simply claiming he was a woman. He did so right after California passed SB 132, the so-called “Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act” in September 2020 which requires the Golden State to place the rights and protections of sex-offending men who claim to be women over the safety and dignity of actual women prisoners. The law went into effect January 1, 2021, requiring state employees to assign men to women’s prisons “based on the individual’s preference.” After SB 132 passed, Carroll told state officials he was now a woman and was transferred to a woman’s correctional facility.

What could go wrong?

Once in the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF), Mr. Carroll’s first cellmate became pregnant. He then allegedly raped another female victim in the shower. He allegedly raped another female prisoner as well. He has been charged for these crimes.

Sally Moreno, who serves as the District Attorney of California’s Madero County, explains Carroll is abusing the system because “this is a person who is not a woman in any sense of the word.” She explains, “After his first cell mate became pregnant, and was moved [to another prison], two other cellmates of his complained that he had raped them, so we have filed rape charges against this inmate.”

Moreno says the court-enforced ruling that Carroll must be respectfully referred to with she/her pronouns impacts her ability to prosecute the case.

This is a particular issue in this case because its confusing to the jury. In California, rape is a crime that has to be accomplished by a man.

What is even more shocking is that the women accusing Carroll of raping them must show false deference to their rapist. They are also required to refer to him as “she/her.” Supervising Deputy District Attorney Eric Dutemple explained, “It’s just absolutely insane that a victim would have to get on the stand and police their pronoun usage when trying to recite one of the scariest times of their lives.”

It is absolutely insane indeed, and Dutemple is correct to point that out.

D.A. Moreno explains all any man needs to do to be considered a “woman” in California law is simply proclaim himself a woman.

There’s no psychological evaluation that needs to be done. This person does not need to be on cross gender hormones, they don’t need to be signed up for transgender surgery, they don’t need to have a psychological evaluation regarding gender confusion, the mere statement is enough. 

Today being man or woman is reduced to mere declaration. Just like how Michael Scott on The Office declares bankruptcy. We are living in insane times.

 And a host of liberal advocacy groups that claim to stand for everything good and right are defending this alleged rapist in his bid as a woman. Wolf, a pro-woman advocacy groups, explains,

Well-funded, influential transactivist organizations – including the Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Transgender Equality, National LGBT Bar Association, National Trans Bar Association, the ACLU, and Transgender Law Center – have been quite successful in imposing “gender-inclusive language” in courts across the nation. However, this appears to be a first for a criminal case.

According to FOIA records obtained by the advocacy organization Keep Prisons Single SexXX, 50% of men in federal prison who say they are women are sex offenders. 

This is precisely where transgender ideology and gender politics have brought us. Don’t ever let anyone hijack your sense of compassion and pity for this kind of insanity. Truth must be fearlessly spoken over these deceptions for the sake and dignity of actual women, girls and reality itself.

Gender pronouns are the catechism of a new secular faith being pushed on all of us. We must all be conscientious objectors.

Related articles and resources

‘Transgender’ Means Many Different Things — and Nothing

What Does it Mean to Be Trans, Anyway?

Why Christians Can’t Avoid the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue

Elon Musk and Jordan Peterson Expose a Major Lie of Gender Ideology

How Transgenderism is Getting Increasingly Deceptive and Cultish

‘The Washington Post’ Survey Confirms Trans is Not What We’ve Been Sold

Why Focus on the Family Cares About the Gender Issue?

Yes, Sexuality and Gender Are Undeniable Gospel Issues

Gender Pronouns are the Catechism of a New Secular Faith Being Pushed on All of Us

Do Not Fall for the ‘Affirm Them or They Will Die’ Lie

New Research Confirms Previous Findings: Most Gender Confused Kids Desist

The Shifting Ground of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’

How the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue Attacks the Family

How to Respond to “Trans” and Gender Ideology? Simple: Live Not by Lies

Are Sex and Gender Different Things?

No, Trans Rights Are Certainly NOT Human Rights

The Embarrassing Crack-Up of the LGBT Project

Yes, Transgenderism is a False Belief System

If you or someone you know is struggling with transgenderism or other sexuality issues, and you don’t know where to turn, Focus on the Family is here to help.

Focus offers a one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor free of charge thanks to generous donor support. If you would like to request a consultation with Focus’ Counseling Department, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Mountain Time) or complete our Counseling Consultation Request Form

Ohio School District Violated Teacher’s Rights in ‘Transgender’ Case

Vivian Geraghty taught English at Jackson Memorial Middle School in Massillon, Ohio. She was forced to resign for refusing to use the “preferred name and pronouns” of two transgender-identified students who were “socially transitioning,” due to her belief in the fact that there are only two sexes – male and female. 

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a complaint on her behalf, and the Jackson Local School District has agreed to pay $450,000 in damages and attorney’s fees for violating Geraghty’s free speech.

It’s the third victory in a row for ADF, which describes itself as “an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.”

As the Daily Citizen has reported, it’s yet another victory for ADF as it seeks to protect the First Amendment rights of teachers. The legal aid group also represented four Virginia teachers, in two separate cases, who won victories over school districts with transgender policies that forced teachers to participate in students’ “gender transitions.”

ADF Legal Counsel Logan Spena said of Geraghty’s victory:

No school official can force a teacher to set her religious beliefs aside in order to keep her job. The school tried to force Vivian to accept and repeat the school’s viewpoint on issues that go to the foundation of morality and human identity, like what makes us male or female, by ordering her to personally participate in the social transition of her students.
The First Amendment prohibits that abuse of power, and Jackson Local School District officials have learned that comes at a steep cost. Vivian resisted this unconstitutional demand and explained that her Christian faith made her unable to participate in her students’ social transition, and she has received just vindication for taking this stand.

According to Geraghty’s initial complaint, “Two of her students were asking to be addressed by different names and/or pronouns to signify that they had ‘transitioned’ to a gender that was inconsistent with their sex,” and she was “instructed by a school official to personally participate in that ‘social transition.’”

Because of her “scientific understanding and her Christian faith,” she knows there are only two sexes. She also knows there’s been a huge increase in the number of adolescents and teens identifying as something other than their sex.

Geraghty also knows the harms from affirming children’s sexual identity confusion, as the complaint explained:

Ms. Geraghty understands that many children who at some point express a gender identity inconsistent with their sex will eventually return to expressing an identity in harmony with their sex. For these children, all forms of treatment – whether psychosocial or medical – that “validate” the gender identity inconsistent with the child’s sex are harmful, but irreversible forms of treatment are the most harmful.

She went to the school principal, Kacy Carter, hoping to reach “a solution that would allow her to continue teaching without violating her religious beliefs and constitutional rights.”

When school officials found out that religion, as well as science, undergirded her belief in two sexes, she was told to set aside her faith. She refused to do this and was forced to resign – just two hours after she had gone to speak with them.

Now, Jackson Local School District is paying the price for violating her religious liberty and freedom of speech.

Science is clear that humans come in two types, male and female, based on their reproductive capacity. Transgenderism is a pseudoscientific ideology, completely disconnected from reality.

And Scripture is clear that God made humans male and female, and both men and women reflect His image. To deny this is an affront to God as the creator and sustainer of life.

Yet schools across the nation deny this reality, threatening parents’ rights, undermining the free speech and religious freedom of educators, and refusing to guard the privacy and safety of students.

Parents Defending Education reported that as of October 30, more than 1,143 school districts have transgender policies, covering almost 21,000 schools with 12.3 million students. Such policies may require educators to lie to parents and hide a child’s sexual identity confusion, force school staff to use “preferred names and pronouns,” and allow students to use restrooms and play sports based on their transgender identification.

Until school boards and administrators come to their senses, ADF – and other legal aid groups – will have plenty of opportunities to go after school districts with these radical transgender policies.

Related articles and resources:

Here are some groups providing legal aid, information and assistance to protect free speech, religious freedom and parental rights in education:

Christian Professor Wins $400,000 Settlement in Compelled Personal Pronouns Case

‘Equipping Parents For Back-To-School’ – Updated Resource Empowers Parents  

Even Hard-Boiled Evolutionists are Standing Strong Against Gender Madness

Free Speech Victory for Virginia Teacher Fired Over ‘Transgender’ Pronoun Policy

There is No Pride in Denying Reality or the Image of God in Humanity

Transgender Resources

Teacher Wrongly Fired for Refusing to Use ‘Preferred Pronouns’ Wins $575,000

Virginia School District Will Respect Teachers’ Religious Freedom and Speech What’s Your School District’s ‘Transgender’ Policy?

Image from Shutterstock.

States Exclude Christian Parents From Foster Care

California law requires foster parents to affirm a child’s “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.” The mandate is being used to exclude Christians with biblical views about sexuality and relationships from the state’s foster care system.

Authored by gay-identified state Senator Scott Weiner and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2023, Senate Bill 407 is now being enforced with new guidance from the California Department of Social Services (CDSS).

Other states, including Vermont, Oregon, Washington and Massachusetts, also exclude parents from foster care if they believe in God’s male-female design for humanity.

This, despite the fact that “there are about 368,000 kids in foster care in the United States,” with “around 68,000 children moving in and out of foster homes annually” in California.

Focus on the Family’s Director for Foster Care and Adoption, Dr. Sharen Ford, decried the exclusion of Christians from caring for children in need. A nationally recognized child welfare consultant, she told the Daily Citizen:

I am gravely concerned about SB 407 as it is a way of forcing Christians to choose to bow to Ceasar by checking their faith at social services’ door or stop caring for children. Christian families have been honoring God’s call to open their hearts and homes to serve “the lonely” (Ps. 68:6, NIV). 
In this new era of you must do it my way, government is throwing down the gauntlet to Christian families telling them to choose. Each family facing these potential changes will need to carefully and prayerfully ask the Lord to order their steps.

The new guidelines from CDSS state:

A Resource Family (RF) applicant and approved RF must demonstrate an ability and willingness to meet the needs of a child or a non-minor dependent (NMD) inclusive of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

CDSS explains how the legislation changed the requirements for foster care families:

The bill also requires that [Resource Family Approval] pre- and post-approval training curriculum provide a caregiver with the knowledge, skills, and ability to parent any child or NMD in foster care inclusive of their … sexual orientation [or] gender identity.”

California Family Council (CFC) reported that foster care parents are already being removed from the system in California. The Focus on the Family-allied organization received a phone call “from a foster father who, along with his wife, had provided temporary care to multiple young children over several years.”

The family policy counsel, which works for life, marriage and family in the Golden State,  continued:

Despite their history of offering loving homes, their social worker denied the renewal of their foster care license because they could not commit to affirming any identity a child might choose. This was a marked departure from previous practices, where their beliefs were accommodated, and they were not assigned LGBTQ-identified children.

CFC Vice President Greg Burt stated:

Their social worker told them that under SB 407, the promise of affirmation is now a requirement for fostering any child, regardless of age.

The California Legislature also passed a measure in 2019 which requires foster care parents and workers to refer to children “by the child’s preferred name and gender pronouns.”

CFC warns such laws endanger all parents. The organization quoted Chief Counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute Kevin Snyder, who stated:

California parents may think, “This doesn’t concern me — I’m not a foster parent.” In fact, it does concern you.
There is now a very small step for the state to deem any parent as unfit to raise their own children if the family holds a view that contradicts the state’s ideology on gender and sexual orientation. This could result in a visit by Child Protective Services with tragic consequences for the home.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said Oregon also keeps Christians out of the system, as the state denied an adoption application from Jessica Bates, a widowed mother of five who wanted “to open her home to children in need.”

ADF explained:

But sadly, when Jessica applied to become certified to adopt, Oregon denied her application because Oregon requires every family to first adopt the state’s view of human identity and sexuality.
This left her with two options: abandon her beliefs or give up the possibility of adopting a child. That’s something Jessica couldn’t do – and shouldn’t have to.

ADF filed a lawsuit on her behalf against Oregon’s Department of Human Services. After losing in a lower court, she appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, where she awaits a ruling.

The legal aid organization has a similar case in Vermont, where Pastor Brian and Katy Wuoti and Pastor Bryan and Rebecca Gantt had their foster care licenses revoked “after the couples expressed their religiously inspired and widely held belief that girls cannot become boys or vice versa.”

The Wuoti’s adopted two brothers from foster care, while the Gants “became foster parents in 2016 and focused on caring for children born with drug dependencies or with fetal alcohol syndrome,” as ADF reported, adding, “The Gantts have since adopted three children.”

Dr. Ford helps raise awareness of the need for adoptive families to provide loving homes for children in the foster care system through Focus’ Wait No More program. She explained the cost to children as parents are forced to choose between following God or bowing to the state:

Families that draw the line in the sand may stop serving as foster parents. Then what will happen to these children? Who will share life with them? Who will help shape them and prepare them for the future? Who will help them heal? Who will train them up so they can become productive citizens? How will they know what it means to be in a family?
For these reasons and so many more, Christians will cry out to the Lord as Rachel did, “A voice heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” (Jer. 31:15, NIV). 

Ford called for citizens to “not sit back and be quiet on this matter,” stating:

There’s currently a shortage of family foster homes across the nation. This policy will further exacerbate this situation.
Youth are sleeping in social services offices and supervised by casework professionals. Others are staying in hotels with rotating staff and eating takeout food. In some jurisdictions, youth are placed in juvenile detention facilities, having committed no crimes, for the sheer lack of homes for kids to be placed in.
Is this what the state wants?

The Daily Citizen is grateful for Christian organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and California Family Council that are fighting back against these egregious, damaging policies that violate constitutional freedoms and place children at risk.

At Focus on the Family, we strongly believe that government efforts to force foster parents to affirm gender ideology or support a child’s sexual identity confusion are unconstitutional in that they violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.

Therefore, we recommend Christians consider utilizing every available legal avenue to defend their right to serve as foster parents in accordance with their faith. Focus on the Family cannot and does not give legal advice. However, we can encourage you to prayerfully consider Christian legal aid organizations for help.

Related articles and resources:

Wait No More is Focus on the Family’s foster and adoption ministry, a whole-family approach that provides free resources for foster care and adoptive families – and for churches and allies who walk alongside them. Through Wait No More’s Suitcase Bundle ministry, children in foster care are provided their own suitcase – for their belongings – as well as a teddy bear, handwritten letter and age-appropriate Bible. The suitcase bundle is a simple way to offer dignity, comfort and hope to children in scary, lonely situations. 

California Bill Gives Foster Children Abortion and Transgender “Rights”

California Governor Vetoes One Transgender Bill – But Signs Alarming LGBT Laws

Christians Banned as Fathers to the Fatherless

California Family Council: Faith Under Fire: The Purge of Christian Foster Parents in California

From Foster Care to Family: How a Small Church is Making a Big Impact

Foster Care: Making a Difference During the Formative Years

When Government is Hostile to Christian Foster Parents

Image from Shutterstock.