Texas joins the ranks of the red states rejecting Biden's woke Title IX rules

The Lone Star State has joined the ranks of the Republican states that have rejected the Biden administration's woke rewrite of Title IX. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) made expressly clear Monday that Texas will not be party to regulations that force schools to embrace radical gender ideology at the expense of girls.

"Title IX was written by Congress to support the advancement of women academically and athletically," Abbott noted in a letter addressed to President Joe Biden. "The law was 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."

Blaze News previously reported that under the new rules, sex discrimination is expanded to include sexual preferences and "gender identity." Sex-based harassment includes "harassment" on these bases.

The rules also bar schools from separating or treating people differently based on sex. The Biden Department of Education clarified that preventing "someone from participating in school (including in sex-separate activities) consistent with their gender identity causes that person more than de minimis harm."

The result is that federally funded institutions and programs will have to allow male transvestites into girl's locker rooms and restrooms. Those that defy the requirement could face legal action.

Abbot referred to the new rules as a "ham-handed effort to impose a leftist belief onto Title IX," adding that doing so exceeds Biden's authority as president.

"I am instructing the Texas Education Agency to ignore your illegal dictate," continued the governor. "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," added Abbott.

Texas is not alone in fighting back.

Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the administration to pound sand, stressing the Sunshine State "will not comply."

"We are not going to let Joe Biden try to inject men into women's activities. We are not going to let Joe Biden undermine the rights of parents. And we are not going to let Joe Biden abuse his constitutional authority to try to impose these policies on us here in Florida," added DeSantis.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody made clear that the Sunshine State would be challenging "this betrayal of women in court."

Louisiana took action, suing the Biden administration this week over the rules.

The state's Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement, "This is all for a political agenda, ignoring significant safety concerns for young women students in preschools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities across Louisiana and the entire country."

"These schools now have to change the way they behave and the way they speak, and whether they can have private spaces for little girls or women," continued Murrill. "It is enormously invasive, and it is much more than a suggestion; it is a mandate that well exceeds their statutory authority."

The States of Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho have joined Louisiana in the case, Louisiana v. The U.S. Department of Education.

The lawsuit notes that the Biden administration's final rule "drives a dagger through the heart of Title IX's mandate" and will have consequences both "shocking and severe."

Louisiana made clear the lawsuit serves to save Title IX and protect the myriad interests threatened by the DOE's rule.

Wyoming, Oklahoma, and South Carolina are similarly not on board with this apparent effort to impose a radical ideology on the nation.

Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder was among the first to take a stand, noting on April 22, "I am outraged by the Biden administration’s action to effectively repeal Title IX protections for women in America. Not only does the Biden administration continue to attack the protections of biological women and the rights of parents, but it does so without any congressional action."

The next day, Ellen Weaver, South Carolina's state education superintendent, told school districts across to disregard the new rules, stating, "This rule is contrary to the express text and undisputed original understanding of the statute it purports to implement. Worse yet, it turns the statute on its head and would rescind 50 years of progress and equality of opportunity by putting girls and women at a disadvantage in the educational arena."

"Even a surface-level analysis of the 1,500 pages of regulations reveals violations of the U.S. Constitution, long-standing civil rights protections, and the Federal Administrative Procedures act," added Weaver. "Because of these and potentially other violations, we fully anticipate this rule will be tied up in litigation for some time."

State Superintendent Ryan Walters similarly told all districts in Oklahoma to ignore the regulations, calling the changes "illegal and unconstitutional," reported KGOU-FM.

The Hill indicated that the states' resistance has greatly angered LGBT activists.

"These MAGA politicians are threatening to put schools in an incredibly precarious position, encouraging them to violate federal civil rights law, potentially opening them up to costly lawsuits, and putting their federal funding at risk," said Brandon Wolf, press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign. "Their theatrics could prove incredibly damaging to students."

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