Last month, the Biden administration announced a revamping to Title IX regulations that was ostensibly meant to protect transgender students in college. The new rules were met with criticism and lawsuits.
Now White House officials find themselves in the hot seat and are forced to defend and explain this decision. Miguel Cardona, the Education Secretary, recently testified before the Senate. Burgess Owens, a Republican Senator from Utah, grilled Cardona on whether he’d allow his daughter to have to deal with men biologically in a women’s area. The secretary was unable to answer.
The administration of President Joe Biden released in April a finalized Rule that extended Title IX protections to include “sexual orientation” as well as “gender identification,” but did not address transgender sportspeople. Cardona declined to answer Burgess Owens’ questions, saying he wouldn’t comment on athletics rules his department had not yet proposed.
Owens asked: “Would your daughter be forced to dress in the same bathroom as boys who are also dressing?”
Cardona replied, “I will not comment on rules of athletics that we haven’t proposed.”
Owens asked Cardona if he could give a “yes” or “no” answer, but he refused to answer. He said ‘he would be happy’ to discuss Title IX.
Owns asked: “If it was reported that your daughter felt uncomfortable with a boy in the presence of a girl in a locker room or bathroom, would your administration consider this to be bigotry or discrimination?”
Cardona refused to answer Owens’ question with a simple “yes” or “no”.
“Girls are now participating in the contact sports of wrestling and boxing. Owens asked: “Would you let your daughter be physically beaten up and fought by a boy calling himself a girl?” “Yes or no.”
Cardona added, “We will be happy to discuss with you once we finish our Title IX regulations.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom filed a suit on behalf of a Louisiana School Board shortly after announcing the new rules.
The legal group claims that the Biden administration’s changes to the federal law 1972 will force schools “to impose widespread harms upon young people and deny their free speech rights.”
The lawsuit states:
The Biden administration’s new definition of “sex” within Title IX forces all schools in the United States to adopt controversial gender ideologies that harm kids, including the children they claim to be helping. It undermines the statute Congress passed fifty years ago.
According to the new criteria, students who identify themselves as females can access girls’ private spaces such as locker rooms, showers, and bathrooms. They can also participate in physical education classes for girls and join girls’ teams. This is despite conflicting information regarding the impact of athletic programs.
Several red states have filed lawsuits to challenge the Title IX reforms made by the White House. Oklahoma and Florida both announced that they will refuse to comply with new rules set by the Biden administration. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stated in a recent press conference that Florida “will not let Joe Biden attempt to inject men in women’s activities.” The state will “not let Joe Biden misuse his constitutional authority impose these policies on us here in Florida.”
