Parent groups are sounding the alarm over President Biden’s sweeping revisions to Title IX, saying the changes will fundamentally usurp parental rights.
On April 19, the Department of Education finalized its changes to the policy aimed to prohibit discrimination based on sex in federally funded institutions. The new guidance, which takes effect in August, expands protections for LGBTQ+ students and adds new safeguards for victims of sexual assault.
Under the new rule, sex discrimination includes discrimination based on gender identity as well as sexual orientation. A school must not separate or treat people differently based on sex, except in limited circumstances. The updated guidance has infuriated conservative parent groups like Moms for Liberty, who claim Biden has gutted parents’ rights and put children in harm’s way.
“We’re very concerned as parents about the fact that this new rule will supersede state law, all of the protections that we’ve worked to put into place in states around fundamental parental rights, stopping the teaching of gender ideology and sexual orientation instruction in schools,” Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice told Fox News Digital. “We’re really concerned we’re going to see all of that just completely wiped away.”
SIX STATE SUE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OVER NEW TITLE IX PROTECTIONS FOR TRANS ATHLETES IN GIRLS’ SPORTS
Moms for Liberty and other parents groups blasted President Biden’s overhaul of Title IX, arguing it gutted parents’ rights and put children in harm’s way. (Getty Images)
The Biden administration has argued the final rule will better protect LGBTQ students from discrimination. Justice claimed it instead encourages schools to keep parents out of sensitive discussions with their children about sexuality and gender identity.
“Children should never have secret conversations with adults. But that’s what we’re seeing happen in some of these schools. We’re seeing that social gender transition programs are being put into place for children without the knowledge and consent of parents and this new law will, in effect, give them a green light to go ahead and talk to our children about these types of private things without parents being involved. So, [it’s] really a huge usurpation of parental rights,” she argued.
Republican critics have also claimed the rule change will enable transgender athletes in schools to play on sports teams that do not match their biological sex.
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Riley Gaines has been an outspoken advocate of protecting women’s sports and a critic of Biden’s Title IX changes that add protections for transgender athletes. (Riley Gaines, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Justice’s group, along with 52 other parent organizations, sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on May 1 calling the new guidance “a grave threat” to the safety of women and girls.
“The guidance poses a grave threat to the safety and opportunities of women and girls and thwarts students’ First Amendment rights,” the letter by Parents Defending Education reads.
While the administration’s new rules broadly protect against discrimination based on sex, they do not offer guidance around transgender athletes. But many Republican states argue that they could be interpreted as such.
The rule’s implications would be in opposition to what the “vast majority of Americans believe” on transgender athletes, Justice continued.
A Gallup poll from last July found that 69% of Americans believe transgender athletes should play in sports teams that align with their biological sex.
Last week, five middle school girls were barred from competing in a track and field event after protesting a court’s ruling to block enforcement of the state’s “Save Women’s Sports Act,” according to the West Virginia Attorney General’s office. (‘Fox & Friends’ screengrab)
The revised regulations also dismantle Trump-era actions that bolstered protections and prescribed a strict grievance process that ensures the accused are treated as innocent until proven guilty.
Justice said parents should be alarmed by these rules changes that she believes leave both the accused and victims of assault vulnerable.
“A lot of parents who have kids in school right now need to understand that if a student is accused of something, no longer will there be due process on our college campuses. The aspect of criminality [regarding reporting assaults] has been removed as well,” she said.
Moms for Liberty is encouraging parents to become more educated about the final rule and to pressure their elected leaders to take action.
The parent group plans to release a free tool kit for parents on their website on Monday about the changes that will go into effect in August. The website will be updated with the latest news about lawsuits being filed and gives parents resources to take before their school boards and state and federal representatives to fight back against the Biden rule.
“A lot of times, Americans are a little wary of engaging if they don’t know a lot about a subject,” Justice said. “And so once… we get up to speed on issues, we feel much more empowered to engage. So that’s what we want to do with this new rule,” she said.
The free toolkit will empower parents with information on the new Title IX changes, Tiffany Justice said. (Courtesy of Becket)
“It’s good to go on the record and to say this is a rule that we don’t like, that the majority of Americans don’t want and we certainly don’t need across the United States of America going into effect,” Justice continued.
The group also sent a letter to Republican governors and attorneys general across the United States on April 24 urging them to consider taking legal action and to defend schools that may be punished for not complying with the final rule.
At least six states and one school district have already filed lawsuits against the Biden administration over the rule change. Justice expects the rule will be tied up in court and eventually be paused nationwide while the courts figure out its constitutionality.
“I’m really happy to see people fighting back and taking a stand,” Justice said.
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American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten hailed the Biden administration’s overhaul of Title IX in a press release. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
The Biden administration, however, has hailed the new rule change as advancing Title IX’s legacy of protecting students from sex discrimination.
“For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in our nation’s schools free from sex discrimination,” Cardona said in a press release. “These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights.”
The Title IX change was also celebrated by American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who praised Biden for rolling back Trump-era regulations with the move. She said the changes would “re-instill faith” in Title IX and ensure education is “free from discrimination.”
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the Title IX changes would protect “freedom and equality.” (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We look forward to additional final guidance that protects all students from politically motivated blanket bans—banning books, banning history, banning certain students because of sexuality or gender identity—which have no place in a country that believes in freedom and equality,” she wrote in a release.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Education for comment.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Paulina Dedaj, Thomas Catenacci and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Kristine Parks is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Read more.
