GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, former University of Pennsylvania swimmer and teammate of Lia Thomas and Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) Ambassador Paula Scanlan, and former elite track and field athlete and one of the first advocates for keeping women’s sports female Selina Soule will be in Grand Rapids on Monday, June 17, 2024, for a press conference to urge policy leaders to take back Title IX and protect women’s sports.
The Biden administration’s radical Title IX re-write, set to take effect August 1, would deprive women of the very rights Title IX was passed to protect: equal athletic and educational opportunity, privacy and safety. This press conference will build on the groundswell of bipartisan support for protecting Title IX and highlight the importance of Congressional action to preserve women’s sports for future generations.
KEY CONTEXT: Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate took action to protect women’s sports and repeal the Biden administration’s Title IX rule last week, but the fight is just beginning. Bills in both chambers are still awaiting a floor vote.
Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC) and the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI) have both filed federal lawsuits to vacate Biden’s illegal Title IX rule.
Last week, a federal district judge enjoined the Biden administration’s Title IX rule in Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and Idaho, arising out of DFI and those states’ suit in the Western District of Louisiana. The judge found that “the changes in the Final Rule would subvert the original purpose of Title IX: protecting biological females from discrimination.”
IWLC filed its lawsuit on April 29 in the Northern District of Alabama. The National Law Journal said it stood out for its challenge to multiple aspects of the regulation. Not only does IWLC challenge the Biden administration’s dissolution of sex-based protections, but also the administration’s mandate that universities punish young men through kangaroo court proceedings, denying them any semblance of due process. Joining IWF as plaintiffs are Parents Defending Education, Speech First, and the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina.
WHAT: Press Conference to Take Back Title IX & Save Women’s Sports
WHO: Former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Paula Scanlan, Selina Soule
WHEN: Monday, June 17, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. ET
WHERE: Ah-Nab-Awn Park Stage, 220 Front Ave. NW, Grand Rapids, which is in front of the Gerald R. Ford Museum. Then-Congressman Ford voted for passage of Title IX and as president, signed the final version of Title IX in 1975.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS: Mult-box will be provided.
Press can RSVP to [email protected].
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Independent Women’s Voice fights for women by expanding support for policy solutions that aren’t just well intended, but actually enhance freedom, opportunities, and well-being.