Concerned Women for America (CWA) policy experts met with representatives from the United States Department of Education (ED) and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the Executive Office of the President to express our strong opposition to OIRA’s review of an ED’s proposed rule titled, “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance.”

Mario Diaz, CWA’s COO and General Counsel, Doreen Denny, CWA’s Senior Advisor, and Morgan Schlesselman, the National Director of CWA’s Young Women for America (YWA), represented the concerns of our hundreds of thousands of members who oppose the redefinition of “sex” within Title IX to include the ever-expanding nature of self-defined “gender identities.”

Denny explained how the proposed rule actually “mandates a new form of sex discrimination against women and girls by erasing equal protections based on our sex. This is a flagrant violation of Title IX’s intent and an affront to our dignity and humanity.” She said:

“Under the Rule, the objective binary, immutable reality of sex is thrown out the window and reinterpreted as a psychological “identity.”  It overturns any standard application of “on the basis of sex” under Title IX law which Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reaffirmed in a landmark Title IX decision, stating that in prohibiting discrimination on account of sex, certain differences between the sexes are enduring.     

I’ll be clear:  Redefining the fundamental meaning of sex under Title IX is not your right or your privilege.”

Read Doreen Denny’s full remarks here.

Schlesselman, spoke on behalf of thousands of young women across the country who are losing their sex-based rights and the spaces, safety, privacy, and opportunities that belong to female students by having gender identity overrule sex. She said, “We have female leaders in 43 states and on more than 100 college campuses who are already experiencing the emotional, mental, physical, and psychological impacts that come from the erasure of women and loss of their sex-based rights, protections, and opportunities.” She also gave examples from YWA college athletes who are fighting against this discrimination on the basis of sex in clear violation of long-established Title IX principles.

Read Morgan Schlesselman’s full remarks here.

Diaz highlighted the atrocious legal effects of the proposed change to replace “sexual harassment” with “sex-based harassment” within Title IX. He said:

“This would be disastrous as it introduces the opposite of what laws strive for, which is certainty and clarity. We want to be precise with language in law and rulemaking. Sexual harassment is precise; it has been tested in courts through the years. “Sex-based harassment” is an ambiguous term that encourages subjectivism, rather than objective standards. It encourages manipulation, and it frankly encourages discrimination.

Could merely offensive speech be considered sex-based harassment? Will victims of sexual assault be forced to share private spaces with males who believe they are females because refusing to do so would constitute ‘sex-based harassment’? These are not hypotheticals but cases we are already seeing in the courts.”

He also highlighted the disparate impact the rule will have on women, especially when it comes to recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

Let us pray against this move to erase women in law, culture, and public policy, and be sure to join us in taking action, as we are stronger when we stand together.