WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Alabama v. Cardona prevented the Biden-Harris administration’s illegal Title IX rewrite from taking effect in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, a ruling that advances safety, fairness, and equal opportunity. The lawsuit was filed by Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC), Parents Defending Education, Speech First, and the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. This decision comes shortly after the Supreme Court unanimously agreed other plaintiff states, including Tennessee and Louisiana, were entitled to an injunction.
The opinion states, in part:
“The Department’s new regulation defining discrimination ‘on the basis of sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ is contrary to law and ‘in excess of statutory authority.’”
The Biden-Harris Title IX rewrite dissolves protections for women by demanding that schools treat students in accordance with their gender identity, including by opening girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and sex education classes to men who identify as girls. It redefines sexual harassment to expose schools to Title IX liability if students or teachers routinely use biologically accurate pronouns. And it dissolves due process protections for students accused of such sexual harassment.
On July 30, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama had ruled that the anti-women Title IX rewrite should be implemented. In response, plaintiffs requested an injunction by August 1, the date the rules were set to take effect. On July 31, 2024, the 11th Circuit granted an administrative injunction—a temporary pause of the Title IX rewrite.
“This is yet another reminder to the Biden-Harris administration that Congress makes laws, not their bureaucrat army. The Title IX law prohibits discrimination based on sex. It does not infuse gender ideology in all education programs, nor does it greenlight stripping students of due process. We are grateful for this injunction to uphold the law and pause the abuse of women and girls inflicted by this lawless administration,” said May Mailman, director of Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC), an organization that fights for the rights of women as equal to, not interchangeable with, men. IWLC is the legal advocacy arm of Independent Women’s Forum and Independent Women’s Voice.
“We are thrilled that the court agreed to temporarily stop the Biden administration’s changes to Title IX. This administration has consistently challenged female biology and cannot conclusively state what differentiates female and male biology. Today is a good day for students and school districts in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Parents and students alike can sleep well knowing their kids won’t be subjected to threats of lawlessness, harm, and injury in their academic institutions,” said Caroline Moore, vice president of Parents Defending Education (PDE), a nationwide membership organization whose members oppose political indoctrination in America’s schools.
“Speech First is committed to defending the free speech rights of students on college campuses who continue to suffer under tyrannical policies that censor and coerce speech. Biden’s Title IX rule is one of the most aggressive attempts we have seen when it comes to targeting students’ fundamental rights to speech and due process. Title IX is supposed to protect students, Biden’s rule is designed to act as a cudgel against those who express ideas that dissent from the far Left’s orthodoxy. We are thrilled to see the Eleventh Circuit has stopped the enforcement of this policy and granted our request for a preliminary injunction that will protect the rights of the students in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina,” said Cherise Trump, executive director of Speech First, a nationwide membership organization that defends college students’ free speech rights on campus.
The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of Alabama. A copy of the filing is available here.