Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday that he has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration to stop changes made to Title IX.
This lawsuit stems from changes announced by President Joe Biden that require universities to add gender identity to the list of protections from sexual discrimination, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Additional changes include the removal of live hearings for sexual misconduct accusations and the requirement that universities train employees about Title IX obligations.
A news release from the Office of the Attorney General argues that the Title IX change “contorts” women’s protections by “forcing schools to accommodate the wishes of men claiming to identify as women (or “transgender”) to enter female-only spaces and join female-only organizations.”
The lawsuit, which Paxton filed jointly with America First Legal, claims that the new changes misinterpret the term “sex,” noting that it would be different than someone’s sexual orientation.
“The Final Rule wrongly equates discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity with ‘sex’ discrimination,” states the lawsuit.
Similarly, the lawsuit alleges that the change “walks back many of the constitutional safeguards issued by the Trump Administration to ensure that students accused of harassment have access to a fair hearing.”
Paxton said that the Lone Star State will not allow Biden to “rewrite Title IX at whim, destroying legal protections for women in furtherance of his radical obsession with gender ideology.”
“This attempt to subvert federal law is plainly illegal, undemocratic, and divorced from reality. Texas will always take the lead to oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk,” he added in the release.
The opinions presented by Paxton are similar to those of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who drafted a letter to Biden to express his disapproval of the changes.
Abbott wrote in the letter that Title IX was meant to “support the advancement of women academically and athletically” and that the law was crafted based on the “fundamental premise that there are only two sexes — male and female.”
“You have rewritten Title IX to force schools to treat boys as if they were girls and to accept every student’s self-declared gender identity. This ham-handed effort to impose a leftist belief onto Title IX exceeds your authority as President,” continued the governor.
“I am instructing the Texas Education Agency to ignore your illegal dictate. Your rewrite of Title IX not only exceeds your constitutional authority, but it also tramples laws that I signed to protect the integrity of women’s sports by prohibiting men from competing against female athletes. Texas will fight to protect those laws and to deny your abuse of authority.”
Although Paxton and Abbott have spoken out against these modifications, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona applauded the changes, stating that the updates will make it “crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming and that respect their rights,” as reported by DX.
