Federal Judge Scraps Biden Administration’s Transgender Rule

On Thursday a federal judge in Kentucky effectively scrapped the Biden Administration’s drastic reinterpretation of Title IX.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education and in activities that receive federal funding — like school athletic programs.

But last year the Biden Administration released more than 1,500 pages of new rules drastically redefining “sex” under Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Under these new rules, public schools could be forced to let biological males compete in women’s sports and use girls’ locker rooms, showers, and changing areas at school.

In response, people across America — including Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin — filed lawsuits to block the Biden Administration’s new rules.

President-elect Donald Trump indicated his administration would rescind these bad Title IX rules, but Thursday’s court decision effectively stops them from going into effect.

We have written time and again about how women’s athletics is at risk of being erased in America.

For example, female cyclists, swimmerspowerlifterssprinters, volleyball players, and others have seen their sports radically changed by men who claim to be women.

Letting men compete in women’s sports is unfair. It reverses 50 years of advancements for women, and in some cases it can even be dangerous.

Fortunately, educators, policymakers, and athletic organizations are taking steps to protect women’s sports.

In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

Thursday’s court decision will help protect students and preserve fairness for athletes. That’s something to celebrate.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

After Transgender Controversy, Most of SJSU Women’s Volleyball Team Ready to Change Schools

News outlets report that most of the San Jose State University (SJSU) women’s volleyball team has entered the transfer portal following the school’s controversial decision to let a biological male play volleyball as a female.

This year SJSU won eight games by forfeit after other college volleyball teams refused to play against the school out of concern for fairness and for players’ safety on the court.

SJSU volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint alleging the university had shown the transgender player favoritism at the expense of the female athletes on the volleyball team. The school suspended Coach Batie-Smoose indefinitely shortly afterward.

Writing at The Washington Stand, Sarah Holliday notes,

The women on SJSU’s team expressed their outrage publicly. Team captain Brook Slusser told OutKick that “everyone on the team appreciated [what Batie-Smoose did], and a lot of the girls in the locker room said how happy they were that she finally was able to speak out [on a situation] that we all knew needed to be talked about.” She added, “Melissa was that person that we felt like as long as she was there, we had someone that would stand up for us. And now there’s no one there that will. … We aren’t happy, and we don’t feel safe anymore.”

In the weeks that followed, the fight turned into a legal battle. By mid-November, a dozen concerned women filed a lawsuit against the Mountain West for what they called “violations of Title IX and of their First Amendment rights.” In particular, the players and coaches took aim at the conference’s “Transgender Participation Policy” which they claimed was designed to “chill and suppress the free speech rights of women athletes.” As Macy Petty, the legislative strategist at Concerned Women for America (CWA), previously told TWS, “The dominos are falling, and they must answer for their actions.”

We have written time and again about how women’s athletics is at risk of being erased in America.

For example, female cyclists, swimmerspowerlifterssprinters, and others have seen their sports radically changed by men who identify and compete as women.

Letting men compete in women’s sports is unfair, and in some cases it can even be dangerous.

Fortunately, educators, policymakers, and athletic organizations are taking steps to protect women’s sports.

In 2023 the North American Grappling Association clarified its competition policy, saying biological males must compete against other men, regardless of their gender identity.

Last year the professional golf league NXXT Golf announced that only biological females would be eligible to participate in the NXXT Women’s Pro Tour.

And the NAIA college athletics association recently adopted a policy that should prevent male athletes from competing in women’s sports.

Many states — including Arkansas — have enacted laws that preserve fairness in women’s sports.

In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

It’s worth point out that public opinion is shifting on this issue, with more Americans agreeing that athletes ought to compete according to their biological sex rather than their gender identity. 

Letting men compete in women’s sports reverses 50 years of advancements for women. In light of that, it really should not come as a shock that SJSU’s female athletes are ready to transfer to other schools.

It is essential for educators, coaches, athletes, policymakers, athletic associations, and others to stand up for fairness in women’s sports. That is something Family Council is committed to doing.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Supreme Court Case Could Decide Future of Arkansas’ SAFE Act

A case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court could decide the future of Arkansas’ SAFE Act.

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation — or SAFE — Act is a 2021 law that protects children in Arkansas from sex-change procedures, puberty-blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

The law passed with overwhelming support in the Arkansas Legislature, but it has been blocked in federal court for more than three years.

To date, roughly half the states in America have passed laws similar to the SAFE Act — including Ohio, Wyoming, Tennessee, and many others.

The Biden Administration has gone to court to stop Tennessee’s law protecting children from sex-change surgeries, and that case has worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the lawsuit, where CNN reports the justices “expressed deep skepticism” about the Biden Administration’s arguments against the law. If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Tennessee’s law, it could pave the way for federal courts to uphold Arkansas’ SAFE Act and the similar laws that other states have passed.

Sex-change procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones can leave children scarred, sterilized, and at risk of serious health conditions.

Doctors do not know the long term effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones might have on people, but files recently leaked from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) organization make it clear that medical professionals performing gender-transitions on kids have been fully aware that these procedures can lead to lasting regret and complications — some of which may even be life-threatening.

Since 2021, a major hospital in Sweden has announced that it would no longer give puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to kids, the U.K. has adopted policies that protect children from puberty blockers, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added a warning label to puberty blockers after discovering they caused some biological girls to experience swelling in the brain.

Reports show that since 2019, doctors in Arkansas have given dozens of children puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones. Some children even have undergone sex-change surgeries. Arkansas — and other states — need to be able to protect these children.

It may be several months before the U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision over Tennessee’s law, but we trust that our federal courts ultimately will recognize that the SAFE Act and the many laws like it are constitutional and let states protect children from sex-change procedures.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.