The right has claimed victory in the ongoing culture war as the Biden administration has backed down from its efforts to ban “trans” athletes from participating in girls’ sports.
The Department of Education had previously sought a Title IX rule that would essentially make “gender identity” a protected class, making it illegal for states or local districts to stop boys who claim to be girls from competing against actual girls in athletics. On Friday, though, that attempt was finally dropped.
The Department of Education released a docket on Friday announcing its withdrawal of the proposition. The Biden administration had proposed the rule change in April 2023. The proposition was titled “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”
The rule would have officially outlawed individual states from banning participation in single-sex sports by gender identity rather than just sex. There are 23 states in the U.S. that have legislation in place to restrict trans athletes from competing as females in public school sports.
Surprisingly, the Department of Education cited testimony during the comment period as one of the reasons it backed down. Perhaps there is some sanity left in the world if even the Biden administration was willing to hear the pleas of girls not wanting to have their spaces, including locker rooms, invaded in the name of “equality” in sports for those who claim to be “transgender.”
According to the department’s statement, pending lawsuits also played a role, but I’m less convinced that was the reason. Since when have left-wing Democrats cared about being sued? These are the same people who unintentionally blew up Roe v. Wade because they couldn’t handle a few red states having heartbeat laws.
For my money, this has much more to do with the cultural shift happening in the country than legal concerns. It makes more sense to dump these fights before they become too public and a political liability. I don’t think Democrats want to hand Donald Trump the slam dunk of him reversing this stuff in a month either.
Still, I wouldn’t expect Democrats to outright dump their obsession with pushing transgenderism on children. Too much of their base is tied up in the idea that “gender-affirming care” for minors is a “right.” It’s another situation where they’ve fed the alligator and now they have to avoid being eaten by it. Frankly, I expect this house of cards to keep collapsing. Democrats can accept reality, including biological reality, or they can keep losing support. Their choice.
