The Biden administration redefined sex; What does this mean for teachers?

The Biden administration now says that sex means gender identity. So what does this mean for K-12 teachers?

In a new regulation released last week, the Biden administration changed the definition of sex in a crucial civil rights law that was originally designed to protect women. Title IX of the Civil Rights Act says that schools cannot discriminate against people based on sex, which gave women better access to higher education and athletics.

But the administration has changed sex to gender, which will allow biological males access to women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, sports competitions, etc. K-12 educators across the country are wondering what to do next because this rule would have major implications for school facilities. and sports teams.

Washington wants schools to change their harassment policies, too, because the new rule says people could face harassment charges if they target someone based on their sex instead of gender choice.

Our advice to educators: Wait.

>>> School gender policies harm students and violate the right of parents to raise their children

The rule of the administrations violates numerous administrative laws and constitutional provisions of freedom of expression, without forgetting the civil rights of women. The rule goes into effect on August 1st, and we anticipate a long and hot summer of litigation that will stop and ultimately overturn this rule.

The rule violates state laws that protect women’s athletics and prohibit men from competing in women’s sports. Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley has already issued a letter to school officials in his state saying the rule violates his state’s Women’s Sports Equity Act, which maintains single-sex sports just for people of the same sex to compete with each other – women’s football for women. girls, boys basketball for boys, as the schools have been for generations.

This rule is inconsistent with the entire basis of Title IX, wrote Mr. Brumley to teachers and principals. Title IX rule changes recklessly endanger students and seek to dismantle equal opportunity for women. Top education officials in Oklahoma and South Carolina have sent similar letters to educators in their states.

The rule also ignores research that finds health professionals don’t know enough about the long-term effects of drugs and medications used to alter human bodies, including children’s biological functions. Earlier this month, England’s National Health Service published a report that the Times UK called the world’s largest review of the controversial field of transgender health care.

The release, called the Cass Report, found that scientists do not have good evidence about the long-term results of puberty blockers, hormone treatments and surgeries that alter the reproductive organs.

Young people, in particular, may feel an urgency to transition, the Cass Report said, but young adults looking back on themselves often advise holding back. The authors of the reports said that the effects of so-called gender interventions need to be better understood.

>>>Women’s sports on the chopping block

The Independent Womens Forum, an advocacy organization, has already announced its intention to sue the administration. The new rule spins Title IX through extrastatutory regulations, the group said in a news release.

Public opinion favors Mr. Brumley, in the Cass Report and the Independent Women’s Forum. A 2023 survey of Americans found that 55% of respondents said it is morally wrong to change gender, an increase of 4 percentage points from 2021. In the same survey, 69% of Americans said that transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on sports teams that match their birth gender.

Americans don’t like seeing videos on social media of high school girls getting run over by a boy at a basketball game or a high school girl getting her teeth knocked out while playing field hockey. No parent wants their daughters to share a dressing room with a boy either.

The Biden administration is violating civil rights law and ignoring research and public opinion. School officials would do well to wait before changing school rules, both to see what happens in court and to protect students and teachers from this harmful policy.