The state of Texas filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its new Title IX rules expanding transgender student protections.
Under the Department of Education’s updated policy, the definition of “sex” now includes a student’s “gender identity.”
“The final regulations clarify that a school must not separate or treat people differently based on sex in a manner that subjects them to more than de minimis harm, except in limited circumstances permitted by Title IX,” reads a Title IX fact sheet. “The final regulations further recognize that preventing someone from participating in school (including in sex-separate activities) consistent with their gender identity causes that person more than de minimis harm.”
According to a press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the new rule forces schools to “accommodate the wishes of men claiming to identify as women (or ‘transgender’) to enter female-only spaces and join female-only organizations.” This policy obligates schools to “permit biological males to use female restrooms and lockers. If schools refused, federal funding would be withheld.”
“Texas will not allow Joe Biden to rewrite Title IX at whim, destroying legal protections for women in furtherance of his radical obsession with gender ideology,” Paxton declared. “This attempt to subvert federal law is plainly illegal, undemocratic, and divorced from reality. Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk.”
America First Legal (AFL) joined Texas in the lawsuit, calling the updated Title IX rule an “abomination.”
This is an abomination, and as outside counsel for Texas we will battle this regulation in court with all the legal fight we can bring. It must be defeated for the sake of American women and for the sake of our daughters,” AFL said.
“The Final Rule wrongly equates discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity with ‘sex’ discrimination,” the lawsuit states.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) ordered the Texas Education Agency to “ignore” Biden’s Title IX rule.
“Congress wrote Title IX to protect women. Biden, with no authority to do so, rewrote Title IX to protect men who identify as women,” the governor shared on X. “This tramples Texas laws that prohibit men in women’s sports. I am instructing the Texas Education Agency to ignore Biden’s illegal dictate.”
Congress wrote Title IX to protect women. Biden, with no authority to do so, rewrote Title IX to protect men who identify as women.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 29, 2024
This tramples Texas laws that prohibit men in women’s sports.
I am instructing the Texas Education Agency to ignore Biden’s illegal dictate. pic.twitter.com/4G1UXNGWKL
In a letter to President Joe Biden, Abbott wrote, “You have rewritten Title IX to force schools to treat boys as if they were girls and to accept every student’s self-declared gender identity. This ham-handed effort to impose a leftist belief onto Title IX exceeds your authority as President.”
Abbott emphasized that the rule “exceeds” Biden’s “constitutional authority” and “tramples laws that I signed to protect the integrity of women’s sports by prohibiting men from competing against female athletes.”
“Texas will fight to protect those laws and to deny your abuse of authority,” the governor declared.
