(The Lion) — Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced a lawsuit Tuesday against the Biden administration’s revision of existing Title IX law through a Department of Education (DOE) rule change that includes gender identity in the definition of sex discrimination.
“Joe Biden is once again exceeding his constitutional authority, this time to put a radical transgender ideology ahead of the safety of women and girls. As the father of a young daughter, I take this personally,” Bailey said in a press release.
“The Biden Administration has threatened to hold federal funding hostage from any institution who rejects this unconstitutional and sexist rule,” he continued. “I’m filing suit because I will not allow federal bureaucrats to subject Missouri girls to unsafe conditions in order to push a radical transgender ideology.”
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin joined Bailey in the suit, saying his state rejects the administration’s ‘radical reinterpretation’ of the law.
“Congress enacted Title IX to protect and promote opportunities for women and girls in education and sports,” Griffin said in a statement. “For the last half-century, that’s what it has done. But President Biden and his Department of Education now want to radically reinterpret Title IX and recast it as a rule about gender identity.”
Griffin further argued only the Congress has the authority to make such changes to existing laws, not the DOE. He also said the revision violated the First Amendment by compelling speech in regard to so-called “preferred” pronouns.
“That contravenes Title IX’s plain language, and it violates the Constitution. That’s why we’re challenging it, and it’s also why we’re confident the federal courts will set aside this unlawful regulation,” he said. “I am proud to stand with my fellow attorneys general and one of my constituents against President Biden’s latest attempt to push forward by fiat what Congress never passed into law and to defend the laws we’ve passed in Arkansas to protect female athletes.”
The court filing shows the states of Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota have also joined the lawsuit.
There are now 21 states suing the administration over the rule, setting up a legal battle ahead of this year’s presidential election.
As reported previously by The Lion, Texas and eight other states filed suit against the revision last week, calling it “illegal.”
“This attempt to subvert federal law is plainly illegal, undemocratic, and divorced from reality,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued upon announcing his lawsuit. “Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk.”
Six other states including Tennessee, West Virginia and Ohio also filed a suit last week.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti argued the DOE doesn’t have the authority to allow boys to use girls’ locker rooms.
“The U.S. Department of Education has no authority to let boys into girls’ locker rooms,” he said in a statement. “In the decades since its adoption, Title IX has been universally understood to protect the privacy and safety of women in private spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms.”
