WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) applauds Members of Congress for preserving equal opportunity in advancing the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution (H.J. Res. 165) to overturn the Biden administration’s unlawful Title IX “Omnibus” rule. Today’s congressional action is the first step in striking down the Biden administration’s illegal administrative rewrite of Title IX, which dismantled the landmark sex equality law to undermine women’s rights, free speech, and due process.
By interpreting Title IX’s sex-based protections to apply to “gender identity,” the Biden administration’s rewrite would force schools to let males who identify as women take women’s scholarships and enter women’s spaces — including women’s locker rooms. This new Omnibus Rule goes into effect on August 1.
Carrie Lukas, Independent Women’s Forum President, said: “Today, we saw clearly who stands with women, and who doesn’t. Title IX is a law that has been essential for women’s flourishing. Now, the Biden administration is pushing women aside to make way for any man willing to say he is a woman. It is shameful and it is wrong. Anyone who cares about women’s rights — and plain old common sense — should take notice.”
Heather R. Higgins, Independent Women’s Voice CEO, said: “The Biden administration, with their Alice in Wonderland redefinition of Title IX, is telling the American public ‘Who are you gonna believe, us or your lying eyes?’ We say, believe your eyes, they are not who’s lying. While the administration disingenuously claims that the new rule doesn’t apply to sports, they’ve established the default position that school activities limited to biological women or biological men are presumptively discriminatory. The administration has repeatedly insisted, in court filings and in public pronouncements, that Title IX requires schools to allow trans-identified males to play women’s sports. They can’t have it both ways. Either they use Title IX to force schools to allow men on women’s sports teams, or if they are not, then schools should stop the madness right now.”
Riley Gaines, Independent Women’s Forum Ambassador, said: “Anti-woman vitriol embraced by radicals who seek to erase women’s sex-based rights and misogynists who support stealing opportunities from women and giving them to men must be challenged and stopped. The coordinated attempt to replace ‘sex’ with ‘gender’ rejects reality and denies objective truth. That is precisely what we’re seeing play out from the Biden administration. In the most anti-woman, anti-reality pursuit we have seen from the administration, 52 years of federal protections under Title IX on the ‘basis of sex’ that have safeguarded women’s equal opportunities are being eliminated.”
May Mailman, Independent Women’s Law Center Director, said: “The Biden administration is forcing girls to shower with men and ripping scholarships away from hard-working young women. Instead of forcing women to litigate their rights court-by-court across the nation, the House has an opportunity to stop this damaging Title IX rewrite.”
Julie Gunlock, Independent Women’s Network Director, said: “On behalf of the 38,977 members of Independent Women’s Network, many of whom are athletes and/or the parents of female athletes, we are grateful for this congressional action to overturn the unjust changes to Title IX and protect girls and women. Women across the country are enormously disappointed in the Biden administration’s cruel indifference to the safety and security of female athletes. We applaud Congress’s efforts to restore Title IX to its original intent—to ensure women and girls receive the same academic and athletic opportunities as their male peers.”
The CRA comes as a growing nationwide movement, including a diverse swath of female athletes, coaches, and women’s rights advocates, fight to return Title IX and stop the new changes from taking effect. Independent Women’s Forum spearheaded the Our Bodies, Our Sports “Take Back Title IX” Summer 2024 Bus Tour, which traveled throughout 30 states in 30 days in June, informing the public about the consequences of the illegal changes to Title IX and holding rallies to build upon widespread bipartisan support to protect women’s sports. Just this week, Our Bodies, Our Sports, the nation’s first and only coalition of women’s advocacy organizations fighting for fairness in women’s sports, delivered two open letters – one letter to the Biden administration and one letter to congressional leadership – signed by its 12 member organizations from across the political spectrum, including prominent and decorated female athletes Martina Navratilova, Riley Gaines, Donna de Varona, and Nancy Hogshead. The letters demand the war on women be stopped, the illegal Title IX rewrite be reversed, and women’s sports be protected for women only. “American women and girls deserve no less,” the letter states.
The administration’s draft rules, released on June 23, 2022, “in celebration” of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, generated overwhelming public opposition, with citizens filing a record number of comments with the Department of Education.
Immediately following the Biden administration’s illegal rewrite of Title IX, Independent Women’s Law Center filed a blockbuster lawsuit – Alabama vs. Cardona – against the Biden administration’s illegal Title IX regulation. National Law Journal said IWF’s lawsuit stands out for its comprehensive challenge to multiple aspects of the regulation.
IWV now calls on Senators to support the CRA, advance this legislation to President Biden’s desk, and preserve Title IX and women’s rights across the nation.
IW is leading efforts against the Title IX rewrite:
- Independent Women’s Law Center is challenging the illegal rewrite in court.
- Independent Women’s Forum, IWV’s sister organization, organized the Our Bodies, Our Sports “Take Back Title IX” Summer 2024 Bus Tour taking our message coast to coast to activate supporters to take back Title IX and stand up for women’s sports.
- IWF joined a panel discussion on Capitol Hill, led by U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, on the importance of protecting Title IX and the threat posed to women’s equal opportunity and spaces – including sports – by the Biden administration’s illegal Title IX rewrite.
- IWV drove more than 20,000 public comments to the Department of Education opposing the Biden administration’s plan to gut Title IX.
- Independent Women’s Forum ambassadors recently joined the “Take Back Title IX” roundtable, hosted by U.S. Senators on Capitol Hill, to advocate fairness in women’s sports. Read their written testimonies here.
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