Conservatives Slam Biden Over Title IX Proposal to Prevent Bans on Transgender Athletes: ‘War on Women and Girls Continues’
John Bazemore/AP
On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced a proposal to Title IX that would prevent “categorical” bans on transgender athletes looking to compete in school sports, but left the door open for schools to make exceptions at the high-level competitions.
While the proposal would allow schools to still impose restrictions as they see fit, it’s left conservative officials and members of the media outraged as they feel it gives transgender athletes complete freedom to compete where they want.
“Biden’s war on women and girls continues,” Newsmax’s Tom Basile said on Twitter. “Democrats want mentally and emotionally ill boys to also share locker rooms with our daughters. Sick and twisted.”
Biden’s war on women and girls continues. Democrats want mentally and emotionally ill boys to also share locker rooms with our daughters. Sick and twisted. https://t.co/DzeUlLbNof
— Tom Basile 🇺🇸 (@Tom_Basile) April 6, 2023
OutKick founder Clay Travis sarcastically called it “another proud day for ‘women’s’ sports.”
The Biden administration has changed the definition of Title IX to prevent schools from banning all men from competing in women’s athletics. Another proud day for “women’s” sports: https://t.co/dOTCJzGsoz
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) April 7, 2023
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) vowed to hold the Biden administration accountable, calling the proposal “a mockery of Title IX.”
This is an attack on our daughters and every female athlete across America.
The Biden administration is making a mockery of Title IX, and I will hold them accountable. https://t.co/ZxClAjFL2m
— Rep. Tom Tiffany (@RepTiffany) April 7, 2023
According to the U.S. Department of Education, any institution that receives federal funding would not be permitted to implement “one-size-fits-all policies [to] categorically ban transgender students from participating in athletics consistent with their gender identity across all sports, age groups, and levels of competition.”
Under the new proposal, schools would develop their own eligibility criteria to ensure fairness and prevent injury. The criteria must take into account the sport, level of competition, and the grade in which it applies.
Reuters noted Friday that “the rule is expected to be challenged in court. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday refused to let West Virginia enforce a state law banning transgender athletes from female sports teams at public schools, one of many Republican-backed measures across the country targeting LGBTQ rights.”
“South Dakota will not allow this to stand. We will lead. We will defend our laws. Only girls will play girls’ sports. President Biden, we’ll see you in court,” South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R) responded Thursday, raising the specter of a legal challenge.
In 2021, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed into a law a ban on students competing in female athletics if they were not assigned that gender at birth. Former President Donald Trump vowed to do the same should be elected president in 2024.
In response to Biden’s new proposal, Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said the state will fight it “tooth and nail.”
“This is a sad, pathetic attempt from a completely inept administration to force their woke worldview on the rest of us,” Diaz said Thursday in a statement. “Since Joe Biden can’t get Congress or the Supreme Court to rubber-stamp his radical gender ideology, he’s resorted to bullying America’s students through the federal bureaucracy. Good luck – this won’t fly in Florida.”
