One day after state lawmakers filed a bill to prevent men from competing in women’s college sports, the U.S. Department of Education is considering changing Title IX regulations to force schools to allow trans-student-athletes to compete according to their gender identity.
The Department of Education released a statement on Thursday announcing the proposed rule. It said it “would establish that policies violate Title IX when they categorically ban transgender students from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity just because of who they are.”
The Department of Education claimed it recognizes that some schools may have to adopt policies to restrict students from participating in sports according to gender identity “in some instances” but said the rule would “provide schools with a framework for developing eligibility criteria that protects students from being denied equal athletic opportunity while giving schools the flexibility to develop their own participation policies.”
This comes just a day after State Rep. Susan DuBose (R-Hoover) introduced legislation in the Alabama House of Representatives to require all public colleges and universities to prohibit biological males from participating in athletic programs designated for females. The bill would also keep biological females from competing in male-designated sports.
“This is a huge overreach of authority,” DuBose told 1819 News. “Unelected bureaucrats [are] once again trying to force their agenda on the states. In Alabama, we won’t stand for it. This will set women’s rights back decades. In 1972, Title IX increased educational opportunities for women. An amazing consequence of the bill is to increase opportunity and athletics for females. In 1972, only 17% of collegiate athletes were female. Now almost half - 44% -are women.”
“These female athletes train for years to earn scholarship opportunities and compete with accomplished female athletes to set records, earn medals and well-deserved recognition for their schools,” DuBose added. “Women deserve to compete on a safe and level playing field with other biological females. Males will always be stronger, faster, taller and have superior heart and lung capacity as well-trained female athletes.”
“Our female athletes have a right to fair competition, and they should not be victims to the social engineering of President Biden’s radical gender ideology,” said Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. “I will always fight for the right to fair competition in women’s sports.”
“The Biden administration and their woke policies need to stay out of Alabama schools,” said Alabama Republican Party chairman John Wahl. “It looks like the Democrat Party and the U.S. Department of Education have completely lost touch with the American people and their values. The Alabama Republican Party has been a longtime advocate for protecting our children from woke policies, as well as protecting women’s sports. We need to stand up and say no to this craziness.”
Wahl said that the proposed Department of Education demonstrated the necessity of school choice.
“This type of social engineering is exactly why we need school choice in the State of Alabama. Our parents and our teachers deserve more options,” he insisted. “The state legislature has done a lot of great work pushing back against these liberal policies in recent years, but now is the time to take a stand and finish the job. We need to ban Critical Race Theory, abolish DEI bureaucracies, and strengthen our laws concerning transgender crossover in sports.”
“The bottom line is that the federal government should not be forcing a social agenda on our state and on our children,” Wahl added. “These issues should be left to parents and the voters of Alabama. Joe Biden needs to worry a little more about our economy, the cost of living, and finding solutions to his failed policies before telling us how to live.”
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email will.blakely@1819news.com or find him on Twitter and Facebook.
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