President Joe Biden’s Department of Education withdrew a proposed rule that would have outlawed individual schools banning transgender-identifying biological males from women’s sports on Friday.
Schools that ban biological males from women’s sports would have been subject to penalties under the Biden administration’s April 2023 proposed change to Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.
“After 18 months, the Biden administration finally comes to their senses on Title IX’s application to sports!” Nicole Neily, president of parental rights watchdog Parents Defending Education, said in a statement. “All it took was 130K angry comments, consistent polling that showed a widening majority opposed to their position, and losing a national election.”
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Under Title IX, schools receiving federal assistance cannot discriminate based on a student’s sex. Biden proposed amending this to include gender identity, but citing public comments and pending lawsuits on the matter, the Department of Education released a docket announcing it is withdrawing the proposal.
During a 30-day period, the Education Department received over 150,000 public comments on the matter, which “offered a broad spectrum of opinions on the Athletics NPRM” according to the docket.
“In light of the comments received and those various pending court cases, the Department has determined not to regulate on this issue at this time,” the docket reads. “Therefore, the Department hereby withdraws the Athletics NPRM and terminates this rulemaking proceeding.”
In the future, if the Education Department decides to issue regulations on the matter, the docket says “we will do so via a new notice of proposed rulemaking.”
Roger Severino, vice president of the Heritage Foundation, explained that the decision likely came because the Biden administration “feared Congress would undo the rule under the Congressional Review Act if finalized and also wanted to deprive Pres. Trump of the chance to finalize the rule on his own terms if left open.”
“This means the Trump admin will have to go through the full rulemaking process to get school sports back to a biological basis. Or Congress can just pass the Defining Sex Act,” he added.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Education for clarification on whether the timing of the withdrawal was procedural or strategic.
The issue of biological males competing in women’s sports came to national attention during the 2021-2022 NCAA season after Lia Thomas, a man who identifies as a woman, stopped competing for the men’s swimming team and began to dominate against females. Thomas went on to break women’s records en route to winning the women’s national championship.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
