President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
The Honorable Miguel Cardona
Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave SW
Washington, DC 20202
July 9, 2024
Dear President Biden and Secretary Cardona,
Women’s sports are important and must be fair. Women’s safety, privacy, and opportunity cannot
be sacrificed. The dreams and aspirations of girls cannot be given away.
That’s why we have joined together to stand up and speak out against your illegal rewrite of Title
IX. The new regulations are discriminatory, unfair, and dangerous.
The rule flips Title IX on its head. It strips protections for women and girls — robbing women
of equal opportunity, privacy, and fairness. It cheats female athletes out of their trophies, roster
spots, playing time, and resources and gives them to men.
This doesn’t enforce Title IX, it violates it.
You know physical differences between men and women have significant consequences in
athletics. There is no way to level the playing field between the sexes.
Title IX was passed in 1972 to expand opportunities for women and girls in education, including
school athletics, and protect women from sex-based discrimination. Now, under the new rules
your administration has advanced, protections meant for women under the country’s landmark
sex equality law have been eliminated.
Stop your war on women. Stop your illegal rewrite of Title IX. Keep women’s sports female.
American women and girls deserve no less.
Sincerely,
Independent Women’s Forum
Carrie Lukas, President
Paula Scanlan, Ambassador
Riley Gaines, Ambassador
Kim Russell, Ambassador
Payton McNabb, Ambassador
Women’s Sports Policy Working Group
Martina Navratilova, OLY
Donna de Varona, OLY
Champion Women
Nancy Hogshead, J.D., OLY
Independent Women’s Law Center
May Mailman, Director
Women’s Liberation Front
Sharon Byrne, Executive Director
Margot Heffernan, Vice President
Women’s Declaration International USA
Kara Dansky, President
Independent Women’s Voice
Heather Higgins, CEO
Concerned Women for America
Penny Nance, CEO and President
Independent Council on Women’s Sports
Kim Jones, Co-Founder
Marshi Smith, Co-Founder
Young Women for America
Morgan Schlesselman, National Director
Independent Women’s Network
Julie Gunlock, Director
International Consortium on Female Sport
Linda Blade, Founding Member