Today, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) under President Biden announced it would be interpreting “sex” in Title IX to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” The DOE cites the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County as justification for this move, despite the fact that it directly contradicts the majority opinion which explicitly states it does not apply beyond Title VII:

“What are these consequences anyway? The employers worry that our decision will sweep beyond Title VII to other federal or state laws that prohibit sex discrimination. And, under Title VII itself, they say sex-segregated bathrooms, locker rooms, and dress codes will prove unsustainable after our decision today. But none of these other laws are before us; we have not had the benefit of adversarial testing about the meaning of their terms, and we do not prejudge any such question today. Under Title VII, too, we do not purport to address bathrooms, locker rooms, or anything else of the kind.”

In response to the announcement, Terry Schilling, president of American Principles Project, released the following statement:

“Today, the Biden Administration has taken yet another step towards erasing women from civil rights law. By reading gender identity into Title IX, the administration has ensured that women will now lose their protections in sports, in private spaces, in scholarships, and elsewhere.

“The administration attempts to justify their assault on the grounds that it was necessitated or called for by the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock. The administration is either lying or lacks basic reading comprehension skills. The Court’s decision explicitly states that it does no such thing.

“That the Biden administration is waging a War on Women in the name of wokeism is, sadly, unsurprising. But it is deeply insulting that they choose to use Title IX, meant to protect women from discrimination, as a weapon in that war.

“Republicans and conservatives need to oppose this decision at the federal level as well as in the states, through legislation and through lawsuits. This unconstitutional attack on women can not be allowed to go uncontested.”

To schedule an interview with an APP policy expert, contact Paul Dupont at (o) 202-503-2010 or pdupont@americanprinciplesproject.org.