The Patriot Post® · Biden's Plan to Wreck Women's Sports and More
“When Title IX became law in 1972,” writes Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s former education secretary, in a New York Post op-ed, “I was a competitive high-school swimmer. In my hometown of Holland, Mich., I was fortunate that girls weren’t denied opportunities to compete in sports the way too many were elsewhere in our country. The landmark law aimed to end such shameless sexism.”
And yet, as DeVos continues: “Fifty years later — at the command of folks on the fringe — the Biden administration is making moves to end women’s sports as we know them.”
This seems hyperbolic, but it isn’t. Title IX is a 1972 law that forbids discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program or activity that receives federal money. At issue here is a proposed radical rewriting of Title IX’s rules by the Biden administration — a rewriting that will expand the parameters of discrimination based on sex to also include sexual orientation and gender identity. This rewrite is scheduled to become effective in the coming weeks. And the rule changes won’t merely affect women’s sports and open the floodgates for litigation between individual states and the federal government. If Joe Biden has his way, these rule changes will also do away with due process involving charges of sexual harassment and sexual assault on campus. Translation: No more presumption of innocence for your son, even if he’s wrongly or maliciously accused of such conduct.
And so, after decades of progress for women, especially in intercollegiate athletics, the Biden White House wants to undo it. Here’s the key sentence within the draft text of its Title IX rewrite:
Discrimination on the basis of sex includes discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex-related characteristics (including intersex traits), pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
As DeVos writes: “The implications of such a sweeping change are unmistakable. The proposal would make it illegal for a school or state to prohibit biological men from competing against women.” And we’ve all seen what happens when men are allowed to compete against women.
What a weird world the Biden administration is proposing. Essentially, his bureaucrats are trying to obliterate all distinctions based on sex. Not only that, but they’re trying to eliminate all discussion and debate about these distinctions. These two major changes — to both the definition of discrimination and the definition of what constitutes sexual harassment — will be weaponized against those who question them. “It’s going to affect people’s ability on campus to talk about or debate about single-sex spaces on campus like women’s sports,” said Candice Jackson, Education Department deputy general counsel under Trump. “All of a sudden, you’re in a position where even having a discussion or even trying to advocate for keeping women’s sports single-sex could get you called a harasser.”
Jackson, for her part, thinks the states will fight back, even at the risk of losing their lucrative Title IX funding, which the federal government has long used as a cudgel for enforcement and obedience.
All isn’t lost, but a fight to retain the biological distinctions between men and women looms. As DeVos concludes: “The Biden administration’s proposal will do significant damage to young women who count on the promise of Title IX. Young women are working hard and training daily to become the next great female gold medalist or national champion. They deserve the opportunity to compete on a level playing field. And that can only be ensured by maintaining the biological distinctions that have always existed in sports.”
Men and women are different. They always have been, and they always will be. When it comes to athletic competition between the sexes, discrimination is precisely what a healthy society needs.