Title IX Rule Delay Is Good News for Women and Children

May 5, 2022

We learned last week about the Biden administration abandoning, at least for now, U.S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) plans to force millions of taxpayers to pay for other people's gender transition procedures. These procedures include surgeries and hormone treatments for children as well as adults. Another unexpected delay: U.S. Department of Education rulemaking related to Title IX. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona revealed last week during a House Appropriations committee hearing that the Biden administration's self-imposed April deadline for the proposed new rule has been shifted to May.

If you watch this full five-minute clip, you will hear no mention of "women" or "girls" during the questioning on Title IX, only talk of "students" from Secretary Cardona and Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.). Isn't that odd, considering Title IX was passed for the explicit purpose of ensuring that women and girls had the same academic and athletic opportunities as men and boys? So what could be behind the delay from an administration that has been so quick and relentless when it comes to pushing the LGBTQ ideology?

Under an accelerated timeline, responsible rulemaking is difficult at best. But since the Biden administration's purpose with this rulemaking is to roll back the Trump administration rule and return to Obama-era Title IX policies, a quick turnaround might not be too hard. But what's complicating the matter is the administration's attempt to redefine the meaning of "sex" in Title IX and the law generally.

It is widely expected that when the Department of Education issues a rule on Title IX enforcement, it will add "sexual orientation and gender identity" to the legal definition of the word "sex." Throughout human history, the understanding of humanity and human reproduction revolved around sex designations of "male" and "female." Fifty years ago, when the U.S. Congress passed Title IX to protect women and girls' access to academic and athletic programs, no one could have imagined the need to formally define the word "sex" in legislative language, let alone in daily life. However, the Biden administration seems to think it knows better, and sex is likely to be redefined to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity."

As Tony Perkins pointed out recently on "Washington Watch," "It's not just groups like ours and our supporters and constituents across the country that are pushing back [on this redefinition], members of Congress are doing the same. In fact, Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) has filed a discharge petition for the protection of women's sports. He's trying to get 218 signatures needed to force a vote on the House floor. This has become a big issue. Ten years ago, you couldn't get many Republicans to touch these issues. People didn't want to talk about it. But now you have Republicans leading the charge against this."

The difference is that these days the issue has become a major focus in education, even for very young children, prompting bills like Florida's Parents Rights in Education Act and many others across the nation. State and local efforts like these are important in countering the overreach from radical activists now running government agencies in the Biden administration. To learn more about what's happening in your state, be in touch with your local family policy council. Pray about these issues. If you find yourself wanting to do more, and we hope you do, visit www.frcaction.org/schools to find resources about running for school board or another local office.