This week, Concerned Women for America’s CEO and President, Penny Nance, signed onto a Conservative Action Project’s memo on the recently released Biden Administration Department of Education guidelines on Title IX. Please use our Action Center to make a comment about this 701-page rewriting of Title IX.
The U.S. Department of Education has officially released the Biden Title IX Rule for public comment, and it is even worse than expected. Title IX was supposed to protect women and girls from discrimination on the basis of sex. Not anymore.
Instead of upholding sex discrimination on the basis of male and female biology, Biden’s Title IX Rule imposes LGBTQ identities as the basis for sex discrimination. Under the fancy title, “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance,” Biden’s Department of Education proposes to rewrite federal civil rights law turning our schools into laboratories for promoting sex and gender ideology at the expense of women and girls.
Here are some of the major changes to Title IX in the Biden LGBTQ Rule:
“Gender Identity” is now “Sex”
School Personnel can be “Parents”
Abortion = Pregnancy
Biden’s Title IX Rule also overrules any state law protecting women and children from the harmful impact of gender ideology and requires all educational institutions to enforce an extreme LGBTQ agenda in our schools against the rights of parents, students, and teachers.
Join CWA in opposing Biden’s Title IX Rule. Now is the time to make your voice heard! Tell the U.S. Department of Education you oppose this radical rewrite of rules redefining “sex” and mandating that schools cater to the extreme LGBTQ agenda, causing harm to children and stripping parents of their rights to protect their children from sexual indoctrination.
Visit CWA’s Title IX Action Center to send your comment directly to the U.S. Department of Education today.
For more information, see CWA’s A Guide for Commenting on Biden’s Proposed Title IX Rule.
Who defines what is? It’s a strange question. Most people would struggle to even grasp the question at first. The point is reality. Who defines it? The Founding Fathers had a beautiful way of describing things that are “self-evident.” All men are created equal. Says who?
Reality says—truth. But the truth is under assault in our day and age. The Founders embraced a Judeo-Christian worldview precisely because it best describes (helps explain) the reality of the human heart and experience. It is self-evident that babies are born male or female. We can observe it and know that it is true. When we look at Scripture, we get insight into that observable reality. “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
Science, of course, confirms it, as science is based on scientific observations. Our biological makeup, physical, chemical, and psychological, bears witness to that reality. As scientific advancement gives us more information about DNA and XY chromosomes, we only gain more evidence of what is a well-established fact.
But from the beginning, the garden’s serpent came to question what was. “Did God actually say?” was its attack then. It still is today. We must realize that this is the battle, in politics, the culture, the church, within your very soul! We either hold on to reality or succumb to the enemy’s manipulations.
Redefining reality does not change it. A man is not a woman because he believes he is a woman. He does not become a woman if everyone else around him goes along with it. He and those going along with it are living a lie and lies will always conflict with reality. You may believe you are the man of steel, but you step in front of a bullet at your peril…
Click here to read the rest of Mario’s exclusive Substack column. And be sure to subscribe below to never miss one of his posts again!
It’s Official: Biden’s Title IX Rule Is a Frontal Attack on
What it Means To Be a Woman – and More: Prepare to Comment!
Day One of the Biden Administration set in motion the moment now before us. President Biden’s sweeping Executive Order, “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation,” unleashed an assault on Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination in educational programs and activities, including athletics, on the basis of sex.
Biden’s version of Title IX changes the fundamental meaning of “sex” under civil rights law. It says sex discrimination is no longer about being male or female but is based on perceived “gender identity.” The impact is to reverse protections for women. Men can now claim our identity and our place.
Biden’s attack started last summer in the form of a “Notice of Interpretation” followed by a “Dear Educator” letter to every school in America carrying a threat of investigations by the federal Office for Civil Rights. None of this is a legitimate way to change the rules.
Biden knows full well that the only legitimate road to rewriting Title IX is to follow the Administrative Procedures Act which requires a laborious process of notifying the public, allowing a comment period, and fully justifying any rule changes based on the comments received. His Education Department chose the 50th Anniversary of Title IX on June 23 to announce its 700+ page proposed rule. The full text is now officially published in the Federal Register.
Public outrage against allowing men identifying as women to compete in female sports has grown stronger after UPenn rostered biologically-male Lia Thomas on its women’s swim team. Team Biden is reading the polls. Biden’s Title IX Rule tries to dodge this controversy by claiming it will address the question of “criteria for participating on particular male and female athletic teams” in a subsequent rulemaking. That might be a convenient promise in an election year, but the published Title IX Rule applies fully to athletics as written, and nothing expressly exempts participation by males in women’s sports.
In addition to its impact on female student-athletes, Biden’s Title IX Rule should be opposed for many reasons:
Concerned Women for America is kicking off a vigorous challenge to this Rule on August 1. Prepare to comment!
On the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, Penny Nance was joined by Young Women for America leaders and athletes Macy Petty and Chloe Satterfield to discuss fair play in women’s sports.
Listen to the new episode below. Check out more Concerned Women Today podcasts here.
On June 23, 2022, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee joined fourteen organizations from across the political spectrum in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, the federal civil rights law passed in 1972 that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education. Organizing this Our Bodies, Our Sports rally as part of an inaugural Women’s Sports Week was part of our ongoing fight to preserve the dignity of women and stand with female athletes in law and policy.
Following the Our Bodies, Our Sports rally, Penny Nance and Young Women for America athletes were featured at a roundtable on Capitol Hill hosted by Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks (R-Indiana), followed by a press conference outside the Capitol.
Meanwhile, U.S. Senators joined the call for protecting women’s athletics. Sen. Tommy “Coach” Tuberville (R-Alabama) led the team, standing up to preserve the purpose of Title IX for female student-athletes. Sen. Tuberville urged the Senate to pass the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” in a news conference at the Capitol with several Senate colleagues. Sen. Tuberville then took to the Senate floor to ask unanimous consent that the Senate immediately consider the bill for a vote. His request was blocked by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).
On the same day, Biden’s Department of Education delivered on its promise to release federal regulations reinterpreting “sex” under Title IX to mean “gender identity,” among other things. The proposed rule invokes President Biden’s executive orders demanding that all federal agencies incorporate radical gender ideology, thus rejecting the biological and physiological differences between males and females as the basis for sex discrimination. The proposed rule confirms the Administration’s intent to overturn the privacy and safety of female students by mandating gender identity-based restrooms, forcing girls to compete against boys self-identifying as girls in female athletics, and requiring teachers, professors, and school officials to use so-called “preferred pronouns.” CWA CEO and President Penny Nance reacted to news of the Biden proposed regulations:
“On this 50thanniversary of Title IX, when we are proud to celebrate the accomplishment of millions of women across the country, the Biden Administration outrageously offers new regulations that would redefine sex, equating gender identity with biological reality. What a slap in the face to women who have achieved so much; Biden has just erased you.
“Years ago, CWA sounded the alarm over men unfairly stealing the trophies and risking the scholarships of female athletes. We have filed three civil rights complaints under Title IX against the universities and colleges that continue to treat women as third-class citizens. Our 500,000 members will continue to pressure the NCAA, governors, and legislators at the state and federal level to stop cheating women and level the playing field.”
In related news, FINA, the international federation of aquatic sports, released a policy on “gender inclusion” for international competition in the wake of male swimmer, Lia Thomas, dominating NCAA women’s swimming in the U.S. CWA Senior Advisor, Doreen Denny, joined NTD news to comment on this development. Watch Denny’s interview here.
Penny Nance, Concerned Women for America’s CEO and President, responds to President Biden’s new Title IX regulations.
“On this 50thanniversary of Title IX, when we are proud to celebrate the accomplishment of millions of women across the country, the Biden Administration outrageously offers new regulations that would redefine sex, equating gender identity with biological reality. What a slap in the face to women who have achieved so much, Biden has just erased you,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), the nation’s largest grassroots women’s organization. “Years ago, CWA sounded the alarm over men unfairly stealing the trophies and risking the scholarships of female athletes. We have filed three civil rights complaints under Title IX against the universities and colleges that continue to treat women as third-class citizens. Our 500,000 members will continue to pressure the NCAA, governors, and legislators at the state and federal level to stop cheating women and level the playing field.”
This month as we mark the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) is celebrating the achievements of female athletes and urging action to Save Women’s Sports.
Join us for the Our Bodies Our Sports Rally in Washington, D.C., on June 23 to stand up for women athletes and the future of Title IX.
CWA has been at the center of the fight to stand for the truth about the sexes and to save women’s sports. We are standing up for the rights of female athletes, and we will not back down. CWA is THE ONLY ORGANIZATION TO TAKE OFFICIAL ACTION against universities allowing males to compete in women’s sports TO CORRECT INJUSTICE IN WOMEN’S ATHLETICS.
Now it is your turn!
You have the opportunity to make your voice heard. Join us in Washington, D.C., on June 23, the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
Check out the website for details.
Hope to see you in Washington, D.C., on June 23
Women athletes are in danger of losing their rights to the desires of men who feel they are women.
The anti-science effort to erase the physical differences between men and women is regressive and dangerous. Women are being victimized in the name of an AstroTurf diversity that discriminates against all who do not conform to the personal fantasies of a few.
The effort has consequences that go well beyond women’s athletics. In April, a male Rikers inmate claiming to be a woman was sentenced to seven years for raping a female prisoner in the women’s section of the jail. Concerned Women for America, the organization I represent — a Christian, conservative organization — is supporting a lawsuit by the liberal feminist organization Women’s Liberation Front to fight for women’s rights on this front.
We are also witnessing the pernicious promotion of transgender ideology in public schools, which ignores the sad, practical reality of the harmful long-term effects of life-altering surgical procedures on all young people, but on young women in particular.
But legally speaking, the women’s sports aspect of this battle, which has the backing of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, should be preventing the injustices we are witnessing…
Read the rest of this op-ed as featured exclusively on The Western Journal.
Women and girls should not be forced to compete against men playing on women’s sports teams and deserve protection at all levels of competition. Concerned Women for America of South Carolina is proud to support H.4608, the Save Women’s Sports Act.
This legislation would prohibit biological men from competing on women’s scholastic sports teams and would ensure female athletes will continue to be afforded the opportunity to compete on a level playing field. When boys compete in girls’ sports, equal opportunity is destroyed. Title IX closed the gap when it became federal law in 1972 and established equal opportunities for women and girls. This includes education and athletics.
After stalling in the South Carolina House of Representatives last year, this bill has been reintroduced and placed in the House Education and Public Works Committee.
Please take action!
Keep this issue in prayer. We pray for courageous leaders to see the importance of this legislation and that God will give them wisdom and discernment to protect female athletes in our state.
For more information on this issue, read Concerned Women for America’s Protecting Women’s Sports CWA Fact Sheet.
God bless you for your faithfulness in prayer and action.
Madison Rainey
State Director
On September 20, the Texas legislature began the Third Special Session, making it a total of four sessions for the 87th Legislature. Concerned Women for America of Texas has been in Austin for all four sessions working to pass legislation that aligns with CWA’s seven core issues.
This week, HB 25, a girls’ sports bill sponsored by State Rep. Valoree Swanson (R-Dist. 150), was assigned to the Select Constitutional Rights and Remedies Committee. Now it’s time to activate our prayer and action network to see that HB 25 is passed and signed into law.
A majority of Texans support protecting female athletes from physical harm and losing scholarships and endorsements. A majority of Texas legislators support the right and opportunity of girls to compete in their own sports. Gov. Greg Abbott has put legislation to protect girls’ sports on the Special Session call three times for the 87th Legislature. The Texas Senate has passed the girls’ sports bill four times. Now it’s time for the Texas House to pass the girls’ sports bill.
This issue affects Texans of all races, cultures, and backgrounds. According to Texas Education Agency (TEA) statistics for the 2019-20 school year, there are approximately 862,137 females of African American, Hispanic, and other ethnicities and approximately 318,953 white females.1 Since the enactment of Title IX in 1972, national statistics show two in five girls (40%) now participate in school sports.2 So, school sports for grade 7-12 in Texas accounts for approximately 472,436 Texas girls. These statistics do not include private, parochial, or homeschool students.
The Third Session of the 87th Legislature ends on October 19, so it’s critical that you make your voice heard on this very important issue.
Please Act:
Please Pray:
“We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with the evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.” I Thessalonians 5:14-15
Sincerely,
Ann Hettinger
I’d like to provide an example for you: Alanna Smith is an African American high school athlete from Connecticut. She is from a family of exceptionally gifted athletes and is on track to play professional sports unless her opportunity is stolen by an undeserving biological male. Alanna, now a high school sophomore, is a short-distance runner (100m, 200m, and 400m). She was a 3-peat 100 Meter Connecticut state champ in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Her freshman year she learned she would be racing at the Connecticut State Open against a male who identifies as a female. No matter how many hours Alanna put into training or how hard she worked on speed, endurance, and strength, she had no chance to beat the physical strength of a biological male who previously ran in the men’s division. Alanna felt defeated before stepping onto the track.
In Connecticut alone, two biological boys have been running girls off the track since 2017. Between them, they have set seventeen individual state meet records—registering times that females have no hope of breaking. The sheer size and strength they bring to the track have resulted in more than eighty-five missed opportunities for girls to even qualify for the next level of competition. As they have continued breaking records and beating biological girls, it is simply not fair for anyone born as a boy to compete against girls. That unfairness does not go away because of what someone believes about their gender identity. 4
We must work hard to protect the rights that women have gained since Title IX when only one in 27 girls participated in school sports. When biological males are allowed to compete in girls-only sports, girls’ lives are permanently impacted.
1https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/enroll_2019-20.pdf
Senate Bill 2 (Sen. Charles Perry – R. District 28), the girls’ sports bill, is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Public Education Committee this Tuesday, August 24, at 10:30 a.m. (or upon final adjournment of the House) in the Capitol Auditorium, E1.004. Concerned Women for America (CWA) of Texas has been advocating for restricting athletes who play in girls’ sports to be biological females only. We will be in Austin, representing your voice during the hearing.
We recently interviewed a young basketball athlete and her mother about the impact of biological males getting to play in girls’ sports. You can watch the videos here. Download the CWA Fact Sheet here.
Take Action!
#1. Contact the members of the Public Education Committee and urge them to vote YES on SB 2. If you are a member of CWA Texas, be sure to let them know.
#2. Contact your state representative and tell them to vote FOR SB 2 when it reaches the House floor! Click here to learn who represents you in the Texas House.
#3. Forward this information to those in your circle of influence who could help us protect our girls’ sports.
Please pray!
“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” II Timothy 1:7
Ann Hettinger
State Director
By Morgan Schlesselman, CWA Government Relations Intern
June 23, 2021, marks the 49th anniversary of the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which states that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Title IX was spearheaded by former Congresswoman Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii) and Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Indiana), who believed that women were entitled to equal opportunities in education and athletics. As Birch Bayh put it, “It’s unfortunate. Title IX is rather simple: don’t discriminate on the basis of sex.”
Lin Dunn, a women’s professional and college basketball coach for more than 40 years, said, “I honestly believe that the package of Title IX, that piece of legislation, is one of the most powerful pieces to empower and impact women ever.” Dunn is correct; before Title IX was enacted, women received fewer than 10 percent of all medical and law degrees, and only one in 27 high school girls played sports. Now, one in two high school girls play sports, and women possess more than half of the bachelor’s and graduate degrees in this country. According to the Women’s Sport’s Foundation, female participation in sports leads to better grades, higher graduation rates, fewer unplanned pregnancies, higher levels of confidence and self-esteem, lower levels of depression, and more positive body image than females who do not play sports.
However, the Biden Administration is actively working to overturn the equal rights women and girls gained under Title IX. Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent a Letter to Educators on the 49thAnniversary of Title IX explaining that “sex-based discrimination” includes gender identity and sexual orientation. This change in definition to include gender identity puts all the progress of the last 49 years at risk. Allowing biological males to compete in sports for women and girls means less space for female athletes on teams, the loss of scholarships, and the loss of awards and other opportunities.
It has been well established that the male body is naturally bigger, stronger, and faster than the female body. The physical advantage men have is what led to the creation of separate categories for women’s sports to provide a fair playing field and equal opportunities for female athletes. It has not taken long to see the impact of allowing biological males into female sports. In just three seasons, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference’s policy that allows any male self-identifying as a girl to compete in girls’ sports led to two transgender runners taking 15 women’s state championship titles and more than 85 opportunities for higher level competitions from female track athletes.
Biological males are not just taking opportunities and championships from females at the high school level, but college as well. In May 2019, a transathlete from Franklin Pierce University became the first biological male to win an NCAA track and field title in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Just sixteen months prior, the same athlete had competed on Franklin Pierce’s men’s team. With the re-definition of sex under Title IX and a decade-old NCAA policy that embraces the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports, female athletes will face a new barrier to equal opportunity in their sport.
Seeing the potential impact of these policies on female athletes, many states are working to pass legislation requiring participation in sports based on biological sex. This year, governors in seven states signed bills into law. However, these states now face the threat of being stripped of the opportunity to host NCAA championships. The NCAA has pledged “only locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination should be selected. We will continue to closely monitor these situations to determine whether NCAA championships can be conducted in ways that are welcoming and respectful of all participants.” In the eyes of the NCAA, granting females fairness and equal opportunity to compete only against biological females is “discrimination.”
While many state legislatures and governors have taken initiative to protect fairness in women’s sports, the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is making their priorities to do the opposite very clear. In a statement of interest in B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education, the DOJ argues that any law that bans transgender girls from competing in female sports is unconstitutional because it violates Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Title IX was once a huge victory for women’s rights, equality, and female empowerment. Today, with the push to redefine what it means to be a woman, female athletes are facing a new fight for equality. Is this what Congresswoman Mink and Senator Bayh had in mind?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2021
Contact:
Jacklyn Washington
202-748-3501, [email protected]
Education Department Redefines Sex to Throw the Civil Rights of Women Under the Bus
A sham and a shame. Our daughters deserve better.
Washington, D.C. – Just one week before the June 23 anniversary of Title IX, the Biden Administration has unconstitutionally reinterpreted the meaning of sex and effectively thrown the rights of women and girls under the bus. The landmark federal civil rights law enacted 49 years ago to prohibit sex-based discrimination and protect women has just been used to erase female status and turn Title IX on its head.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issued a Notice of Interpretation explaining that “sex-based discrimination” includes gender identity and sexual orientation. The expansion of this definition means the government wants to force us to live under the fantasy that biology no longer matters and that the Biden Administration will no longer protect the equal rights of women and girls in education and athletics as intended.
From day one, the Biden Administration has been declaring war on what it means to be a woman. From replacing the word “mothers” with “birthing people” in its legislative proposals to leaving female athletes in a field of lost dreams, the Democrats have turned back the clock on decades of progress for women’s rights.
This decision is outrageous and insulting to every woman in America. It is detrimental to the safety, privacy, and opportunities of female students and athletes. Even Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an icon of the feminist movement, understood that sex-based classifications could be permissible because certain “differences between men and women” are “enduring.” For years, we’ve watched young, courageous, female athletes work to excel in women’s sports and demonstrate a simple point: sex-separated sports are at the heart of fair competition because men have innate physiological advantages over women based on immutable biological differences.
Unfortunately, in this radical woke era that elevates self-declared identity over reality, women and girls have been sidelined by leftist ideologues who demand any man can claim female status and have full access to our sex-separated spaces and sports.
Concerned Women for America (CWA), the largest public policy organization for women in the nation, has been on the front lines of the battle to defend Title IX for female students and athletes. Last week, Doreen Denny, CWA’s Vice President of Government Affairs, provided live testimony for the U.S. Department of Education’s virtual public hearing.
With this radical reinterpretation of Title IX coming on the heels of a full week of testimony and thousands of public comments, the Department of Education’s decision was obviously made before the results were in. President Joe Biden and Secretary Miguel Cardona clearly don’t care about what the American people, including the majority of women, have to say or about safety and fairness for women and girls.
A sham and a shame. Our daughters deserve better.
###
Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) is the legislation and advocacy arm of Concerned Women for America. Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization with a rich 40-year history of helping our members across the country bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy.
This week the U.S. Department of Education held a virtual public hearing on Title IX and the Department’s role in addressing sex discrimination. Doreen Denny, CWA’s Vice President of Government Relations, provided live testimony on the issue of why subjective gender identity categories should not be added to sex discrimination under Title IX:
“Nothing in congressional statute or statutory interpretation of Title IX by the Supreme Court has changed the meaning of sex discrimination. The Department of Education has no legitimate authority to rewrite this federal civil rights law to redefine the immutable characteristic of sex to mean “gender identity” and thus force women to comply with allowing males who declare transgender status to have access to sex-separated schools, facilities, or sports programs for women.”
You can read Doreen’s full testimony here.
Watch Doreen’s live testimony below.
Concerned Women for America of North Dakota State Director Linda Thorson applauds the passage of the fairness for female athletes bill by the North Dakota legislature. Read the full press release.
Our YWA leaders have a powerful message on the importance of protecting Title IX and women’s sports. 
YWA Challenge: Make a Video. Stand up for Title IX. Protect Women’s Sports.
The Left’s attempt to undermine Title IX by allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports is a direct attack on you, your generation, and the lives of women to come. Attacks on Title IX set back decades of progress. NOW is the time for you to lead this conversation.
Here’s what you can do:
Get creative with the backdrop and/or your attire. You can film anywhere BUT if you play a sport, utilize that as a backdrop (basketball court, volleyball court, track, etc.)
Ideas for talking points:
Concerned Women for America of North Dakota, Linda Thorson, testified before the House Human Services Committee in support of HB1298, a bill that seeks to protect fair competition and equality in women’s sports that is now under threat.
Watch my committee testimony (start at 3:10 mark).
Democrat Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Republican Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) have joined hands across the aisle to protect the rights of female athletes under Title IX, the federal law that ensures equal opportunities and benefits in education on the basis of sex. A former 2020 Democrat presidential candidate and four-term member of Congress, Gabbard has bucked the Democrat party’s lock-step campaign to repeal Title IX discrimination based on biological sex and replace the definition of sex with gender identity. This manipulation of Title IX’s intent gives any male the chance to claim transgender status and compete on women’s sports teams.
In the first demonstration of bipartisanship on this issue, Reps Gabbard and Mullin introduced the Protect Women’s Sports Act patterned after a bill introduced earlier this year by Republican House members Greg Steube (R-Florida) and Debbie Lesko (R-Arizona). The legislation has a straightforward objective: reaffirm Title IX’s intent based on biological sex and require schools receiving federal funds to abide by this biological distinction in women’s sports in order to comply with federal civil rights law.
By opposing male transgender participation in women’s sports, Gabbard makes a significant statement about the current extremism of her party denying equality of rights for women and girls as female.
In 1972, Title IX provided landmark protections for female students in education by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex. This opened a world of new opportunities for women and girls in academics and athletics that has become commonplace three generations later. Most girls today have no idea what their predecessors fought to achieve and won – nor what they stand to lose.
But some female student-athletes, like Selina Soule, Chelsea Mitchell and Alanna Smith in Connecticut; Madison Kenyon and Mary Kate Marshall in Idaho; and the daughter of world-champion track athlete Cynthia Monteleone in Hawaii, have faced a different reality as they were forced to compete on an unfair playing field against biological males identifying as girls and forfeit the chance to succeed as they should.
Activism around transgender inclusion in women’s sports is sidelining the achievements of female student-athletes, putting their safety at risk, and silencing their voices. It is also rewriting the purpose of what Title IX was enacted to protect. Democrats have been hypocritical about this discrimination against women and girls, choosing to ignore biological truths that matter in sports (and facilities) and bowing instead to transactivist demands that deny the rights of females who have the most to lose.
In a statement on the Protect Women’s Sports Act, Gabbard declares, ”Our legislation protects Title IX’s original intent which was based on the general biological distinction between men and women athletes based on sex. It is critical that the legacy of Title IX continues to ensure women and girls in sports have the opportunity to compete and excel on a level playing field.”
Mullins, the father of wrestlers including three daughters, had this to say, ”As the father of three girls involved in athletics, I want them to be able to compete on a level playing field. I am proud to lead this bill that will safeguard the integrity of women’s sports and ensure female athletes can compete fairly.”
By reclaiming Title IX protections for female athletes, Tulsi Gabbard is challenging the Democrat party establishment. Her retirement from Congress now leaves the mission to display the same courage to others. Perhaps they can be persuaded by the substantial majorities of Americans who oppose male trans-athletes competing against females in women’s sports. As Gabbard’s support and partnership with Mullin make clear, this should not be a partisan issue, but a matter of biological reality, fair play, and common sense – principles that should unite us.
Doreen Denny is Vice President of Government Relations for Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee.
