AFA of PA ACTION ALERT

May 15, 2023

Issue

Comment Deadline Looms

Details

“Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams” – sounds good BUT the passage of Title IX almost 51 years ago addressed the issue of discrimination against females in sports.  Now the Biden Administration wants to redefine “female” to include males who identify as female, thus forcing schools to allow gender-confused males on girls’ sports team.   

This Proposed Rule undercuts states that are protecting female athletes from ongoing discrimination and leaves women without protection when male students are allowed to join their teams.  So far twenty states have passed laws to protect female athletes.   Don’t expect PA to take such action in the near future.  Even if it were to pass in the legislature, Governor Josh Shapiro would veto the bill.   

The Proposed Rule states that if schools apply “a one-size-fits-all approach, they rely on overbroad generalizations that do not account for the nature of particular sports, the level of competition at issue, and the grade or education level of students to which they apply.” Those schools using that standard across the board would thus not be in compliance with the rule as proposed. A summary from their website:  “The U.S. Department of Education (Department) proposes to amend its regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) to set out a standard that would govern a recipient’s adoption or application of sex-related criteria that would limit or deny a student’s eligibility to participate on a male or female athletic team consistent with their gender identity. The proposed regulation would clarify Title IX’s application to such sex-related criteria and the obligation of schools and other recipients of Federal financial assistance from the Department.”   Here’s a link to the 32-page proposed rule change.

Let the USDOE know just how dangerous and discriminatory this proposed rule change is.  Here are some suggestions for starting points:

  1.  Follow the science:  Biology 101 confirms that there are differences between males and females.   Males have an undeniable biological advantage over female athletes no matter the amount of testosterone suppression is taken
  2.  How many more girls have to be physically  hurt by male athletes who identify as girls who have been allowed to play on girls’ sports teams?  We’ve seen this happen across the country.
  3. How many more female students will lose out on scholarship opportunities because their consistent first place winning position is reduced to second place since a male who identifies as female is now on the team?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Action Steps

Monday, May 15th is the deadline for public comment.     Here’s the link to leave a comment. 

At the top of your comment, include the Docket ID:  ED-2022-OCR-0143. 

Comments can also be uploaded in Microsoft Word or PDF format by clicking the green “+Add a File” button. 

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