Facing strong and sustained opposition, the Biden administration has dropped its effort to change a key rule that would have allowed transgender individuals to compete in women’s sports, effectively abandoning plans to rewrite landmark Title IX legislation.
In a statement filled with bureaucratic language, the Education Department announced it was withdrawing the proposal to revise Title IX—a rule originally designed to ensure equal opportunities for women—after significant pushback. The proposed change had faced criticism for potentially undermining the integrity of women’s sports, as well as a bevy of lawsuits.
According to Just the News, the Education Department cited several factors in its decision, including over 150,000 public comments opposing the rule, multiple lawsuits challenging the proposed changes, and the nearing conclusion of the Biden administration’s term. As a result, the effort to implement the rule has been shelved.
The proposed rule would have permitted men to access women’s sports, bathrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities. It was introduced by the Biden administration in April 2023.
🚨🚨🚨 Women’s sports are being saved.
The Biden administration is withdrawing its Title IX proposal which forced schools to allow trans-identifying male athletes into girls’ sports.
They know they’ve lost.
Common sense is emerging.
Your courage is making the difference.… pic.twitter.com/r4PQhS1tus
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) December 20, 2024
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel and Vice President of Legal Strategy Jonathan Scruggs said the action was a victory for women, per a statement on the group’s website.
“Women and girls deserve to compete on a level playing field, and the U.S. Department of Education has taken a step in the right direction by withdrawing this proposed change,” Scruggs said.
“As the withdrawal admitted, many Americans voiced their opposition to the rule change and there are many pending lawsuits related to protecting women’s sports—including a comment submitted by Alliance Defending Freedom and multiple lawsuits brought by ADF to protect women’s sports,” he added. “The decision to withdraw the proposed sports rule merely reflects the views of the vast majority of Americans who believe that women’s sports should remain reserved for female athletes.
“Unfortunately, the fight to protect women’s sports from gender ideology is far from over. The Biden administration has attempted to insert gender ideology into Title IX by its general Title IX rule adopted earlier this year, the Biden administration has repeatedly told courts that Title IX alone requires schools to admit men into women’s sports, and activist groups across the country have filed numerous lawsuits to force females to compete against males,” Scruggs continued.
“That is why Alliance Defending Freedom will continue to fight to preserve women’s sports for women and why the U.S. Supreme Court should grant review in two pending cases, B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education and Hecox v. Little, where lower courts required women to compete against males. So, while today represents a victory, there is still much work left to do to ensure women have fair play and equal opportunity in athletics,” he said.
By choosing to withdraw the rule rather than allowing President-elect Donald Trump to amend it, however, the Biden administration is “adding more red tape and making it more difficult for him to govern,” said Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s incoming press secretary, according to NBC.
“President Trump will not be deterred by their dirty tricks and will use every lever of power to reverse the damage Biden has done and implement his America First agenda,” Leavitt noted futher.
Ian Miller noted on Outkick, “It’s clear that the administration knew that this rule to protect transgender athletes had no chance of surviving the lawsuits and court of public opinion. Especially after the re-election of Donald Trump showed that the country overwhelmingly disapproved of such extremism. “
“But it’s also clear that they wanted to bury this announcement as to avoid scrutiny and criticism from the political left. So they chose to dump it on the Friday before Christmas, with most of the country checked out of the news or focused on the first game of the new College Football Playoff era,” he wrote, adding, “Sounds about right for how this disgraceful administration has conducted itself for the past four years.”
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