Title IX is the most commonly used name for the landmark federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government. This is Public Law No. 92‑318, 86 Stat. 235, codified at 20 U.S.C.
When Title IX was enacted I did not pay much attention to it. My interests in sports were centered around men's baseball and football. I knew women's sports such as swimming, softball, golf, and track and field. As I understood the new law, federal funds would help female athletes compete because male sports had the advantage of more spectators and hence more revenue due to higher attendance. Title IX would level the playing field so that female athletes would have a chance to compete just like male athletes.
Somewhere along the way I happened to find a women's basketball game on television. I think it was a college game and have no idea what the teams or schools were. The action was well into the game and I was surprised that the scores were so low. It was something like 50 to 40. As I watched the game progress I watched several missed shots and few free throws were made. I thought, "This is like a high school game and not worthy of a college sport." It quickly became apparent that college basketball for women had a long way to go before it would be worth watching.
As they say, "You've come a long way baby!" Forty years later we see some spectacular female athletes competing on the world stage. Basketball alone has captured the nation's attention. The women have arrived and they have their stars, just as the men do. Female athletes can qualify for scholarships at prestigious universities and some go on to professional careers in and out of their sport.
We have Joe Biden's Department of Education coming out with additional rules for Title IX that Governor Sarah Sanders claims are "plainly ridiculous" and "will lead to males unfairly competing in women’s sports; receiving access to women’s and girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms, and private spaces; and competing for women’s scholarships.” 1
The order instructs schools to continue enforcing state laws that prevent transgender students from using restrooms and locker rooms and competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. Schools should also continue to comply with a 2023 Arkansas law that prevents public school and state employees from addressing minors by a name or pronoun that does not align with their sex assigned at birth without permission from their parents.
“If Biden gets his way, female college students will shower and change next to male college students, referring to someone using biologically correct pronouns will get you all in front of a disciplinary board for harassment and scholarships previously reserved for women will now be open to anyone claiming to be a woman,” Sanders said Thursday at the Arkansas Capitol in Little Rock. 2
More than a dozen Republican-led states have sued the Department of Education over these no Title IX rules and it is too early to see how they will fare against the Federal Government Behemoth. My feeling is that the Executive Branch will withhold federal funds to those states that refuse to comply with the new edits. The States will sue the Federal Government for redress and who knows where that will go? Thank Trump for a conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
In the event the Feds lose in court, we might see the National Guard employed to escort males into the locker rooms, showers, and the athletic event. How many young women are going to put up with that treatment?
"The proposal unveiled by the Education Department last April would prohibit schools from adopting policies that categorically exclude transgender student-athletes, though high schools and colleges would still be able to limit how and when trans students can compete in accordance with their gender identity." 3
Resources
1. Migdon, Brooke, Sarah Huckabee Sanders orders state to ignore new Title IX rules, The Hill, May 2, 2024, https://www.yahoo.com/news/huckabee-sanders-orders-state-ignore-225930456.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
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