The proposed Title IX changes by the Biden administration, which prohibit discrimination based upon sex, would also include protections for transgender students, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Republican-Alabama) stated.
Biden’s proposed rules would extend Title IX’s protections to include sexual orientation or gender identity. This could allow male students to access women’s sports and locker rooms if they identify themselves as female.
Tuberville began his coaching career as a high school girls’ basketball coach. He stated that Biden’s changes would lead to “lawsuit after suit and unfortunately it will really affect high school and college ladies.”
There have been several lawsuits filed in relation to this issue. The most prominent was filed by three Connecticut female athletes. In February 2020, they sued Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference for allowing two biological males to compete against biological females in high-school track and field. The lawsuit was later joined by a fourth student, but the case was dropped in April 2021 due to the fact that the transgender students had graduated.
Two transgender girls had won Connecticut girls’ track in high school and took 15 state championship titles. The title was previously held by nine Connecticut girls. Transgender students had more than 85 opportunities in 2017-2018 and 2019 to compete in higher-level competitions.
“We train for so long a day, so many hours in order to be able to be the best of our state and the top in our region and these biological men are just taking it from us and they really deserve it,” Alanna, one of the plaintiffs, said to Fox News in February 2021.
Tuberville wrote to Miguel Cardona in May, arguing that Title IX’s proposed changes would eliminate “opportunities to generations of women and girls” at the behest of liberal extremism.
Tuberville stated that any such weakening in Title IX protections would be a reverse of 50 years worth of progress for girls and women in sports and an offense against every woman who has ever benefited from the enactment. “Title IX has provided opportunities for generations of female athletes who wouldn’t otherwise have had the same opportunities as their male counterparts.”
Tuberville noted in his letter that at least 13 states have passed laws prohibiting biological males from competing in women’s sporting events.
Tuberville also cosponsored the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. This legislation would require Title IX’s definition of “sex” to be based only on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics.
Tuberville stated that “they’re not going to let this come down to the floor,” explaining that Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D.NY) will not allow the bill to be voted on. Tuberville stated that he had seen support for the bill by Sen. Joe Manchin (D.WV), which suggests that such a bill might actually pass if it was brought up for a vote.
Tuberville also commented on the Title IX proposals in September. He argued that by “broadening sex’s definition based on weakly-associated cases and polarizing socio-concepts adopted by the progressive left, the law’s intent is destroyed and women are again marginalized.”
Tuberville stated that Biden’s rule proposal is “nothing but absurd”, but that the country will “sooner than later” return to common sense.
Tuberville stated that “This is an attack, not just on sports or girls playing sports – but on all women, providing opportunities for men.”
