Global Courant 2023-05-12 16:00:47
Half of US governors are urging the Biden administration to refrain from or delay implementation of a proposed rule from the Department of Education, which they say could prevent states from having “duly enacted statutes that imply fairness” in women’s and girls’ sports”.
In a letter sent Friday to Education Sec. Miguel Cardona, 25 Republican governors are opposing the department’s proposal to change Title IX rules to expand the meaning of sexual discrimination to include gender identity that would prevent schools and colleges from banning transgender athletes.
“We are writing to file a joint comment against the proposed new regulation 34 CFR § 106.41(b)(2) of the U.S. Department of Education and respectfully request that it be withdrawn or delayed until the U.S. Supreme Court can answer questions raised in several pending cases that question this administration’s expanded reading of Title IX,” the governors, led by Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, wrote in the letter.
Under the department’s proposed rule, no school or college receiving federal funding would be allowed to enforce a “one-size-fits-all” policy that categorically prohibits transgender students from playing on sports teams in accordance with their gender identity. Such a policy would be considered a violation of Title IX.
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From left to right, some of the Republican governors who wrote the letter to Education Sec. Miquel Cardona includes: Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. (Al Drago/Bloomberg, Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg, David McNew, Anna Moneymaker, Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis)
The proposal, GOP governors said, could “prevent states from enforcing our duly enacted statutes that protect fairness in women’s and girls’ sports.”
“If not repealed, we are deeply concerned about the impact the Department’s large-scale reinvention of Title IX terms would have on states’ ability to enforce their laws and policies as written,” the governors wrote. “Indeed, under the threat of denying essential school funding, the ministry’s proposed ordinance would seek to force compliance with an uncertain, fluid, and wholly subjective norm based on a highly politicized gender ideology. Most disturbing is that the proposed ordinance the goal would change from upending Title IX and threatening the many achievements of women in athletics.”
The governors offered further criticism of the proposal, saying the department’s recommended ordinance “has no basis in established law” and “contains terms not found in Title IX in an effort to extend the plain language of Title IX to beyond the intent of Congress.”
“The proposed rule also lacks any authority from Congress. The plain language used in Title IX does not allow for the sweeping rewrites of Title IX that the Department continues to push for,” the governors stated. “There is no question that Title IX prohibits sex discrimination.”
“Undeterred by plain English, the department is coming up with new categories based solely on a student’s ‘gender identity’ – a term not used in Title IX,” they added. “This far-reaching interpretation exceeds the congressional-granted authority of the Department. Not only does the Department lack the authority to unilaterally rewrite Title IX, such an ordinance would disrupt states and schools and erode the lived experience and achievements of generations of courageous women.”
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The governors also stressed the importance of defending the “hard-fought” achievements of female athletes.
“This government apparently sees no irony in its policies validating an average male athlete who steals the recognition of a truly remarkable female athlete whose lifetime athletic discipline and achievements are being rejected on the basis of a deliberate misinterpretation of a law whose very purpose was to to protect, preserve and encourage women’s athletics,” the governors said. of her gender ideology. Other than the Department’s utter lack of authority to promulgate such an ordinance, neither states nor schools should. be subject to such a fluid and uncertain standard. Nor must the historical progress and achievements of our sisters, mothers and daughters be erased.”
President Biden speaks as Education Sec. Miguel Cardona, right, listens at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on October 17, 2022. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In a press releasesaid the Biden administration that the proposed rule “affirms that students take advantage of the opportunity to join a school sports team to learn about teamwork, leadership and physical fitness.”
The letter from more than two dozen Republican state leaders comes amid widespread support from Democrats and liberals to allow transgender athletes to compete in sports that don’t align with their biological sex.
The House passed legislation last month to prevent biological men from participating as transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports in schools across the country. The measure, known as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, passed by a vote of 219 to 203 on April 20. All “yes” votes came from Republicans and all “no” votes came from Democrats.
Republicans defended the bill as an attempt to prevent women and girls from having to compete against transgender women and girls — biological men who can sometimes dominate these sports and prevent some female athletes from making the team. But several Democrats argued in the debate that the GOP bill is an extension of the bullying transgender students already face in school.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on Aug. 8, 2022. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
Cardona has said he is in favor of allowing biological transgender males to participate in women’s sports. He said at his confirmation hearing that it is “critical” that educators and school systems “respect the rights of all students, including students who are transgender” and that all students should be able to participate in activities.
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Friday’s letter to Cardona contained signatures and support from Reeves, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp , the governor of Idaho, Brad Little, the governor of Indiana. Governor Eric Holcomb, Iowa Kim Reynolds, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon.
Andrew Mark Miller, Peter Kasperowicz, and The Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this article.
