Since June 23, 1972, Title IX protected the rights of men and women in education and athletics without discriminating against them.
On day one of his second term, President Trump wasted no time in issuing an executive order declaring that there are only two sexes, male and female. Trump followed up with another decree that will enforce Title IX protections reversing President Joe Biden’s order that biological men could compete in women’s sports.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. underscored both orders saying, “This administration is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government. The prior administration’s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.”
It says a lot about contemporary America that this is even an issue. I can only imagine explaining this to those Marines boarding Higgins boats throughout the Pacific in World War II.
More than 70 executive orders would follow in Trump’s first 30-days of term two. To say the Oval Office’s Resolute Desk had not seen that much action since Bill Clinton is an understatement.
America’s four-year weekend at Brandon’s is finally over.
In recent times, Title IX had been flipped on its head since Richard Nixon signed it into law over half a century ago. Title IX was as clear and concise as law gets consisting of 37 words: “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.”
Since June 23, 1972, Title IX protected the rights of men and women in education and athletics without discriminating against them. Then the bottom fell out in 2016, when the Obama Administration said Title IX no longer meant “sex” as in biology, but one’s “gender identity.”
Gender ideology turned a law to protect women into a weapon of political harassment and discrimination. A woman would no longer be a woman defined by biology since time immemorial. A woman is now a man who claims to be a woman with male DNA meaning nothing. All that matters is that he claims to be a woman. Period. Now, he could compete with women in women’s sports, use the women’s locker room and receive scholarships allocated just for women.
Perhaps the most celebrated transgender is Will Thomas, a mid-ranked male swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania who declared himself a woman named Lia Thomas, who went on to defeat top ranked college swimmer, Riley Gaines. As Thomas paraded around in his birthday suit in the women’s locker room, three former teammates are suing Penn to have his three school records expunge arguing correctly that transgenderism is a clear violation of Title IX. To add insult to injury Penn nominated Thomas for their “woman athlete of the year.”
The NCAA knew this was wrong and did nothing.
Far from being over, the battle against fundamental gender ideology remains. Radical factions will fight Trump’s executive order tooth and nail throughout the courts to end protections for female athletes.
This is why action from Congress, state legislatures, and the courts is critical to securing permanent protection. Trump’s executive order, while essential, is a victory for women’s sports by restoring the intent and spirit of Title IX, but the fight is far from over.
For the common good of the nation, principles must triumph over party politics and codify laws that define Title IX and guarantee these protections are permanently enshrined in law.
Enforcement has already begun with investigations into Penn, San Jose State University, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for suspected Title IX violations. Trump’s order will restore the records and titles to the girls and women who rightly earned them.
For schools that refuse to comply, federal funding will end.
Days before the executive order was signed, a coalition of Republican senators in Pennsylvania introduced Senate Bill 9, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” which would bar men from competing in women’s sports and codify these protections into law. Legislation ensuring fairness for female athletes by upholding Title IX to the letter of the law.
Finally, transgenders are taking their balls and going home.
Permanent legal protections are needed not just today, but forever and something those Marines boarding those Higgins boats would certainly understand.
