The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday denied the Biden-Harris administration’s request to partially reinstate its illegal attempt to change the meaning of the word “sex” to include “gender identity” in Title IX, a federal law designed to create equal opportunities for women in education and athletics. The high court’s denial comes in two different legal challenges to the administration’s Title IX rule changes, Cardona v. State of Tennessee and U.S. Department of Education v. State of Louisiana.
The Supreme Court’s decision upholds two recent federal appeals court rulings that halted the administration’s unlawful rules in the states of Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia; and Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho. In one case, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent a West Virginia high-school female athlete and Christian Educators Association International; in the other, they represent a Louisiana school board serving more than 20,000 students.
“The Biden-Harris administration’s radical redefinition of sex turns back the clock on equal opportunity for women, undermines fairness, and threatens student safety and privacy,” said ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategy and Center for Conscience Initiatives Jonathan Scruggs. “The Supreme Court rightly affirmed the 5th and 6th Circuit decisions to restrain the administration’s illegal efforts to rewrite Title IX while these critical lawsuits continue. This administration is ignoring biological reality, science, and common sense. Female athletes, students, and teachers across the country are right to stand against the administration’s adoption of extreme gender ideology, which would have devastating consequences for students, teachers, administrators, and families.”
On April 19, the Biden-Harris administration announced it would redefine “sex” in Title IX rules to include “gender identity,” requiring schools to ignore the biological distinction between male and female in favor of “an individual’s sense of their gender.” The Department of Education’s fundamental and radical rewriting of federal law would force schools across the country to embrace a controversial gender ideology that harms children—including the very children it claims to help. Schools will be required to allow males who identify as female to enter girls’ private spaces like restrooms, locker rooms, and showers; to participate in girls’ physical education classes; and—despite logically inconsistent disclaimers saying otherwise—to play on girls’ sports teams.
ADF attorneys have obtained injunctions in three other lawsuits challenging the administration’s unlawful rule:
- State of Kansas v. U.S. Department of Education.
- Carroll Independent School District v. United States Department of Education
- State of Arkansas v. U.S. Department of Education
