(The Center Square) – Critics of the Biden administration’s Title IX rule said Wednesday that the changes would harm women if they go into effect as of the Aug. 1 implementation deadline.
During a media call orchestrated by the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), which operates the Independent Women’s Law Center, critics of the changes said they would remove spaces for women and roll back longstanding legal protections based on sex.
Riley Gaines, an outspoken critic of transgender athletes in women’s sports, said that it was because of the opportunities afforded by Title IX that she could compete in collegiate swimming.
Gaines said that the Biden administration’s rule change that allows transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports discriminates against women because the Department of Education’s default position is that sports limited to men and women are “presumptively discriminatory.”
“The Biden/Harris administration has repeatedly insisted in court filings and public pronouncements that Title IX requires schools to allow males who identify as transgender to play in women’s sports,” Gaines said. “They cannot have it both ways.”
Martina Navratilova, among the world’s greatest tennis players, has been concerned about fairness in women’s sports for several years. She noted that Democrats agree with her but are scared to speak out. Navratilova said that the administration told her there would not be changes to sports but called it a “long rewrite.”
Gaines asked Navratilova if she had a message to the Biden and Harris administration.
“I don’t think they know what they’re doing,” Navratilova replied. “They have no idea how this affects women.”
Navratilova said that if there are 10 male basketball players and 10 female players, the five players who can’t make the male team will make the female team, leaving only five spots for women.
“If you allow this rule to go into effect, you will disallow and invalidate women in sports and make it very lopsided,” Navratilova said.
Cameron Norris, a lawyer from Consovoy McCarthy representing the Independent Women’s Law Center in Alabama v. Cardona, said that the litigation has been successful and referenced the latest filing Tuesday asking an appellate court to offer an emergency injunction before Thursday.
The appellate court ruled to grant an injunction, delaying implementation of the rule in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina while litigation continues. Because of court rulings, the Title IX changes are now blocked from going into effect in 26 states and hundreds of other school districts in the remaining 34.
Norris also said that the Department of Justice has asked to take two cases to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could put out a decision any day.
North Carolina congresswoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican, called the Biden administration’s rule “hurtful” and said it “limits opportunities for women and girls, and it’s totally unacceptable.”
• This story first published at Chalkboard News.
