Leads Coalition of Texas Lawmakers Demanding Title IX Rule be Withdrawn
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – State Representative Brian Harrison and a coalition of Texas lawmakers have sent a letter to President Joe Biden’s Department of Education, demanding their proposed Title IX rule be withdrawn and exposing it for what it is: a destruction of women’s rights. Rep. Harrison was joined in the letter by Rep. Valoree Swanson, who authored the “Save Girls' Sports Act” in Texas, which protects Texas girls by keeping biological males out of K-12 female-only sports.
Statement by Representative Harrison:
“It is tragic, but unsurprising, that an administration unable to even define “woman” would use laws designed to protect women and girls to harm them instead. I’m proud to lead a coalition of lawmakers in demanding Biden withdraw his dangerous and unprecedented proposal which would disempower parents, endanger Texas female students, and reduce educational and extracurricular opportunities for women.
"The State of Texas passed laws to protect women, and unelected D.C. bureaucrats must be defeated in this unconstitutional overreach," said Harrison.
Statement by Representative Swanson:
"As the author of the 'Save Girls' Sports Act,' I am outraged that the federal government is endangering female athletes by ignoring basic biology and pushing to allow biological males to enter female-only sports."Our young girls deserve privacy in the locker room and safety on the field. Extracurricular sports that provide opportunities for scholarships, professional careers, and personal fulfillment should not be held hostage by the government in furtherance of a political agenda. I demand that the Department withdraw this rule and let Texas protect our girls."
Background:
In 2021, Representative Valoree Swanson proudly authored and passed House Bill 25 87(3), known as the "Save Girls' Sports Act,” to stop biological males who claim to be females from cheating our young girls out of their own sports and putting them at risk on the field and in the most intimate settings of a locker room. In addition, HB 25 ensured that female athletes may participate in male-only sports if there is no female equivalent and does not affect the availability or legality of co-ed sports.
As a response, the Biden White House is moving to expand the definition of Title IX – the 1972 federal law that gave equal rights to young girls in education and athletics – and subvert Texas' science-based approach to protecting biological females.
The proposed expansion of Title IX is based on a misinterpretation of Bostock v. Clayton County, which the DOE claims will allow the federal government to investigate "discrimination" based on states protecting sex-specific activities. Moreover, the proposal is an unconstitutional subversion of the elected legislatures of sovereign states under the 10th Amendment and a violation of the Spending Clause of the United States Constitution.
The ever-moving goalposts of Title IX by the federal government have already created legal confusion in schools across the United State as it relates to reporting, staffing and personnel, penalties, and reliability of federal funding.
