Women's groups, athletes rally at 5th Circuit for privacy, safety in schools

NEW ORLEANS – Women’s groups, athletes, 22 states, and many education advocates have filed friend-of-the-court briefs asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to halt the Biden-Harris administration’s unlawful attempt to redefine “sex” to include “gender identity” in Title IX, a federal law designed to create equal opportunities for women in education and athletics.

In the case State of Louisiana v. U.S. Department of Education, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent a Louisiana school board serving more than 20,000 students. The Department of Education’s fundamental and unconstitutional rewriting of federal law would force schools 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.

“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 Senior Counsel Natalie Thompson. “The Rapides Parish School Board and schools 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. We commend the many athletes, teachers, and women’s advocates who have joined us in urging the 5th Circuit to continue restraining the administration’s illegal efforts to rewrite Title IX.”

“All told, the Department cannot point to any statutory authority supporting its dramatic rewrite of Title IX, let alone the clear authority required to weigh in on the major questions the Final Rule attempts to answer,” the amicus brief led by the state of Arkansas and joined by 21 other states explains. “The Final Rule’s redefinition of ‘sex’ discrimination is illegal on its face and should remain enjoined. Such a ruling would merely maintain the status quo that has existed since Title IX’s enactment in 1972 based on the universal understanding that ‘sex’ means biological sex, not gender identity.”

Women and girls deserve personal privacy, and that is “[not] because of bigotry; it is a natural instinct rooted in biological realities,” the brief filed by Independent Women’s Law Center, Women’s Declaration International USA, and Concerned Women for America states. “The first of those realities is that males alone have the biological capability to impregnate women. Combine that with other objective facts—men are, on average, larger, stronger, and more violent than women—and it is not hard to see why women are naturally nervous when made to expose their bodies around males.”

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the administration’s request to partially reinstate its illegal rewrite of Title IX. The Supreme Court agreed with the 5th Circuit’s decision to continue blocking the unlawful rule in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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