WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), the nation’s most impactful policy organization for women, is calling foul on the Biden administration’s failure to meet its own arbitrary March deadline for issuing new Title IX rules. For more than two years, the administration has been threatening to turn Title IX on its head through extra-statutory regulations that would require schools to allow males to self-identify into women’s spaces, opportunities, and athletics.

Draft rules, released June 23, 2022, on the 50th anniversary of Title IX, unlawfully attempt to rewrite the statute, which prohibits sex discrimination in education, to also deal with “gender identity.”
The release of the draft rules generated overwhelming public opposition, with citizens filing more than 150,000 comments with the Department of Education:

“As a concerned citizen, I strongly oppose the Department’s proposed rule to redefine the definition of ‘sex’ in Title IX. This proposed rule forces young girls to share intimate spaces with males. This proposed rule forces girls to give up their educational opportunities to males who perform better than they do. And this proposed rule tells girls that their objections and concerns with these policies will be silenced. America’s girls deserve better. I urge you to rescind this rule.” – Marion K. 

“Allowing athletes to compete in sports outside of their biological sex is actually an infringement on women’s rights and a form of discrimination.” – Brittany S.

“This proposed rule affects me greatly as a woman. It puts females at risk for losing out on sports scholarships and opportunities to play, due to the physical advantage that a biological male identifying as a woman has over a biological woman. I foresee a future where men identifying as women dominate women’s sports, pushing out any and all women from any opportunities to break new records or make any advancements in women’s history. All the accomplishments and hard work women have put into showing off just what a woman can truly do are being taken away from us by men claiming to be a woman.” – Stephanie S. 

The latest Gallup poll showed that 69% of Americans believe athletes should play on teams that correspond with their biological sex.

Last week, the Washington Post reported on the Biden administration’s Title IX rule delays, acknowledging that “issuing such a rule risks injecting the issue into an election year.” In short, the Biden administration knows their attempts to make it easier for males to compete in female athletic competitions is politically unpopular. The administration is deliberately dragging its feet, while simultaneously encouraging schools to follow the dictates of its draft, which threatens not only women’s sports, but also women’s spaces and educational opportunities.

Jennifer C. Braceras, vice president for legal affairs at Independent Women’s Forum and founder of Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC), said: “Americans need to wake up to what’s going on here: By withholding this regulation while quietly telling schools they need to comply with it, this administration is gutting opportunities for women while avoiding judicial and political scrutiny of their unlawful actions.” 

Paula Scanlan, former University of Pennsylvania swimmer and Independent Women’s Forum ambassador, put it this way: “The Biden administration’s failure to meet its own deadline is proof that they know their actions lack support. By delaying yet again, they are attempting to have their cake and eat it too: they get to twist Title IX to satisfy woke activists, while simultaneously trying to avoid public backlash. The burden is now on athletes, like me, to advocate for fairness, safety and privacy in our own sports, and we will continue to fight against these damaging proposed rules.”

Payton McNabb, a volleyball player who sustained injuries after competing against a biological male and Independent Women’s Forum ambassador, added: “The Biden administration’s extended deadline for its Title IX overhaul puts women and girls further at risk of injury at the hands of a male opponent. Last year, I was knocked unconscious after a forceful blow to the head from a volleyball spike by a male on our opponent’s girls’ team, leaving me with long-term physical and mental damage. Women and girls deserve to compete fairly and safely, but the administration’s proposed Title IX rewrite continues to deny us that opportunity.”

Coach Kim Russell, former Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Oberlin College and Independent Women’s Forum ambassador, said: “Under Title IX, women and men are entitled to equal athletic opportunities—opportunities that are not possible without single-sex sport. The drafters of Title IX (and of its original implementing regulations) understood this basic point. Unfortunately, the current administration’s delayed proposals will erase Title IX’s original meaning and the rights that were given to women and girls almost 52 years ago.” 

Independent Women’s Voice, IWF’s 501(c)(4) sister organization, drove more than 20,000 public comments to the Department of Education opposing the Biden administration’s plan to gut Title IX. The legal and policy objections filed by IWF and Independent Women’s Law Center can be read below:

Independent Women’s Forum has been leading the fight to preserve Title IX and save women’s sports. Learn more below: 

  • Independent Women’s Forum ambassadors recently joined the “Take Back Title IX” roundtable, hosted by U.S. Senators on Capitol Hill, to advocate fairness in women’s sports. Read their written testimonies here. 
  • IWF and IWLC have produced a first-of-its-kind report entitled, “Competition Report: Title IX, Male-Bodied Athletes, and the Threat To Women’s Sports,” to help athletic associations, policymakers, and courts understand the growing threat to female athletes.
  • IWF’s Female Athlete Storytelling drive featuring real stories from real women athletes can be found here.

###

www.iwf.org 

Independent Women’s Forum is dedicated to developing and advancing policies that aren’t just well intended but actually enhance people’s freedom, choices, and opportunities.