Attorneys representing Carroll ISD were in court on Monday in an attempt to delay the Biden administration’s changes to Title IX.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Carroll ISD passed a resolution denouncing the Title IX changes this past May before filing a lawsuit against the administration.
“This lawsuit is about protecting our daughters and girls from boys accessing their bathrooms and locker rooms and competing on their athletic teams,” said Cam Bryan, the school board president at Carroll ISD, reported CBS News Texas.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an advocacy group providing the district with legal counsel, requested in the hearing at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas that the enforcement date for the Title IX changes — set to take effect on August 1 — be delayed.
Title IX, which was formed in 1972 as a law to prevent sex-based discrimination against female students in education and athletics, is soon to be extended to include students who identify as transgender.
“The final regulations clarify that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity,” the Title IX changes state.
With the new rules looming, Carroll ISD argued in its complaint against the administration that “[t]his bureaucratic fiat prevents Carroll ISD from protecting private spaces like bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers for both girls and boys, opens girls’ sports to males, and infringes on the constitutional rights of students and staff.”
“Carroll Independent School District is right to seek to preserve safety and privacy for the girls — and all students — under its supervision,” ADF legal counsel Mathew Hoffmann said in a statement to DX.
“The Biden administration’s radical redefinition of ‘sex’ in Title IX upends our education system and ignores biological reality, science, and common sense. This dangerous and unnecessary rule change will have devastating consequences for students, teachers, administrators, and families, and we are urging the court to preserve Title IX as it has stood for decades — for the privacy, safety, and equal opportunities for all.”
During Monday’s hearing, Judge Reed O’Connor asked Pardis Gheibi, the Biden administration’s attorney, a series of questions, such as whether one can claim to identify as a different race, for instance, which prompted Gheibi to argue that the concept of individuals identifying as different genders is a material issue, while an individual identifying as a different race would be an “outlier,” reported The Texan.
O’Connor also asked what studies have been examined regarding the potential psychological harm to young women forced to be nude in the presence of the opposite biological sex. Gheibi could not come up with a study and remarked that such harm would be “niche.”
The judge’s ruling is expected to be issued before August.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, some local leaders have gathered to show support for Carroll ISD’s lawsuit against the Title IX changes.
“Americans should pay close attention to the bravery of these Southlake Carroll trustees and implement the same intestinal fortitude in every school board across America,” co-founder and president of Southlake Families PAC Leigh Wambsganss told DX.
Others, however, such as Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, have supported the Title IX revisions.
“All students should be protected from harassment and discrimination in the classroom,” Raoul said, per the Jacksonville Journal-Courier. “Efforts to limit Title IX are shortsighted and discriminatory and would have a negative effect on the well-being of youth.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Dallas ISD sought advice from an LGBTQ-centered clinic on how to better facilitate “youth transitioning,” according to open records requests by DX.