The Biden Administration’s U.S. Department of Education is about to add the LGBTQI+ individuals to the Title IX protections for federally funded education. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has filed a federal lawsuit to stop that rule from going into place on August 1, 2024.
The U.S. Department of Education says that purpose of the final rule is eliminate sex discrimination in education programs and activities by bringing greater clarity regarding: the definition of “sex-based harassment”; the scope of sex discrimination, including schools’ obligations not to discriminate based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity; and schools’ obligations to provide an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex.
In Drummond’s challenge filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Oklahoma, the AG contends this is an unconstitutional reworking of Title IX protections.
“In doing so … it ignores the literal text of the statute and the purpose behind the creation, it disregards the lack of public support for the proposed rule, and it jeopardizes the equal opportunity that has been afforded to female athletes ever since the establishment of the statute,” states the filing.
“The Department attempts to make these drastic and detrimental changes while relying on a Supreme Court case that has no connection to Title IX. Perhaps worst of all, implementation of the Final Rule would serve to isolate and deny the group of athletes that the statute was originally designed to promote and protect – female athletes.”
Drummond claims the new regulations will harm female students.
“Students of both sexes will experience violations of their bodily privacy by students of a different sex,” the lawsuit states. “Indeed, the Final Rule also ignores psychological and safety concerns. For instance, a recent study points out that ‘limited research has explored girls’ experiences of competing on boys’ sports teams,’ noting unique challenges to female athletes. … Female athletes describe ‘having to navigate tensions and problematic assumptions of girls’ inferiority in sport.’ Meanwhile, research shows that female athletes are more willing to participate in single-sex athletics and less likely to feel self-conscious in single-sex athletics.”
Another part of Drummond’s legal contention is based on the rule violating the Tenth Amendment by usurping authority belonging to the States and to Congress. He points to the conflict with Oklahoma’s laws prohibiting transgender girls from taking part in women’s sports and requiring school bathroom use to biological sex assigned at birth.
