Sarah Huckabee Sanders Defies Biden’s Transgender Protections
similar laws denying recognition of transgender identity that have passed in other states.It is inspired by Independent Women’s Voice’s “Women’s Bill of Rights,” a template that the right-wing organization has shopped around to encourage lawmakers to preserve single-sex spaces based on biological anatomy, and prevent individuals assigned male at birth from being legally recognized as female.A similar measure was introduced in Congress two years ago.Last month, the Biden administration issued new rules explicitly stating that LGBTQ students, and in particular transgender students, are protected from discrimination or harassment under Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.
Biden’s rules, which take effect August 1, prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in federally funded educational programs.The explicit protections were added in order to align the rules with the principles undergirding a landmark 2020 Supreme Court decision finding that the Civil Rights Act protects LGBTQ workers from workplace discrimination, and that instances of anti-LGBTQ discrimination are inherently a form of sex-based discrimination.Since then, several states, including Oklahoma and Texas, have forbade local school districts from attempting to comply with the new rules.At least 14 states have filed or joined lawsuits challenging the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX, arguing that the law’s references to “sex” should only apply to biological sex.“Title IX was created to protect women,” Sanders, flanked by anti-transgender advocate Riley Gaines, said at the news conference. “But Biden’s Title IX attempts to erase women completely.“If Biden gets his way,” she continued, “female college students will shower and change next to male college students.
Referring to someone using biologically correct pronouns will get you hauled in front of a disciplinary board for harassment.
