The new transgender sports rules enacted by the Biden administration face fierce opposition from conservative groups.
A public comment period for a Department of Education regulation limits states’ restrictions on gender-based athletics, and advocates hope to overwhelm the system with feedback from worried voters.
The executive director of Heritage Action, Jessica Anderson, has stated that if this law is enforced, schools will be compelled to allow males to compete against women and girls for fear of violating Title IX and losing federal funding. By using the public comment platform provided by Heritage Action, female athletes and everyday people may push back against extremist initiatives to abolish women’s sports.
Heritage Action and the Defense of Freedom Institute have established online platforms for concerned citizens to provide feedback.
The deadline for submitting comments is May 15; the final regulation is expected to be published later this year.
The idea, announced on April 6, would permit primary school learners to compete in sports based on gender identification while providing some wiggle room for high school and college sports. The White House has promoted the plan as a means to show support for transgender athletes.
Press secretary for the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre, noted that LGBTQI+ youth are strong, determined, and do not back down. They are not leaving, and the Biden administration is supporting them.
Transgender activists criticized the plan, saying President Biden was trying to straddle the fence and leave room for exclusion. In contrast, conservatives said the proposal would lead to most schools allowing men to compete against women.
Former DOE official Bob Eitel, who worked with Betsy DeVos to draft rules, claims the current administration is weaponizing Title IX through several policy shifts.
The groups hope this regulation modification will attract as many comments as the one released in July 2022, which was 240,000.
As president of DFI, Eitel emphasizes that all comments submitted to a federal agency during a notice and comment rulemaking process must be read and considered.
He said they’re trying to let people know they can influence the final law. Eitel believes the typical American family considers the regulation process surrounding athletics, gender identity, and Title IX under the Biden administration to be very odd.
Several Republican governors, including Florida’s presidential prospect, Gov. Ron DeSantis, will now be at odds with the White House because of this decision. DeSantis is well-known for his involvement in culture war topics. Only two days before the announcement, the Florida Senate voted to ban transgender treatments for children.
According to a press report, twenty states have prohibited biological male students from participating in high school women’s sports.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has framed the new regulation as a safeguard for fair access to athletics and has invited and encouraged public feedback.
Opponents, however, argue that the restrictions are discriminatory towards women and ultimately weaken women’s sports.
According to Anderson, the Biden administration is once again attempting to utilize the government rulemaking process to advance radical gender ideology, which endangers the safety and opportunities for women in sports. This time around, Biden’s rulemaking is an attempt to roll back decades’ worth of Title IX safeguards by penalizing schools for taking precautions to ensure the safety of female athletes.