On Thursday, the Biden administration released new Title IX rules which would block schools from receiving federal funding if they have enforced bans that stop biological males from participating in female sports.
The U.S. Department of Education proposed this amendment as a way of setting out a standard to “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.” This regulation would also clarify the ways in which schools could ensure that they are providing equal opportunity to all their participants regardless of gender for participating on male and female athletic teams.
With the new rule, any policies that prohibit transgender students from participating in sports of their preferred gender identity would be a violation of Title IX.
According to the U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, every student needed to be able to get the “full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination.” He further noted that participation in a school sports team is an important experience for students of all ages.
With these changes, students would still have some flexibility if they need to ban certain transgender athletes from participating in specific sports based on their age or sport. In the notice, they specifically note that in some environments in competitive athletic environments schools “may adopt policies that limit transgender students’ participation.”
