After directing the Texas Education Agency last month to ignore President Joe Biden's recent revisions to Title IX that included protections for LGBTQ+ students, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that the state's It has also expanded to include universities within the country.
According to a statement from the governor's office, Professor Abbott sent a letter to the state's public university systems and community colleges stating that they are “not complying with President Joe Biden's recent revisions to Title IX and implementing new policies related to the entire university system. I have instructed them to refrain from doing so.” This revised version. ”
“As we have made clear, Texas will not respond to President Joe Biden's rewrite of Title IX, which violates the original purpose and spirit of the law to support the advancement of women,” the letter said. ing. “I will continue to support laws that ensure the safety of students on campus, provide a process for adjudicating reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault with appropriate due process for all involved, and protect women’s sports by banning men’s sports. I signed legislation that protects the integrity of women athletes – and I won't let President Biden erase Texas' progress.”
Title IX is a civil rights law enacted in 1972 that prohibits sex discrimination in schools and educational programs receiving federal funding. Changes to Title IX announced in April include new rules clarifying that Title IX also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Her LGBTQ+ students who face discrimination are entitled to a response from their school under Title IX, and students who are rejected by their school can seek relief from the federal government.
Abbott previously tweeted that he complained in a letter to the president that recent Title IX revisions “force schools to treat biological males as females.” In his letter, Abbott directed the TEA to ignore the president's “unlawful orders” and said “Texas will not abide by the new rules.”
“Title IX was written by Congress to support the academic and athletic advancement of women,” the governor said in a letter to the president last month. “This law was based on the fundamental premise that there are only two genders: male and female. This law forced students to accept their self-declared gender identity. Efforts to impose leftist beliefs on Title IX are beyond your authority as president, and I am calling the Texas Education Agency I direct you to ignore my illegal orders.”
However, there was no mention of transgender athletes in Biden's policy. Still, the governor said the Title IX amendment exceeds Biden's constitutional authority and “also tramples the law I signed to protect the integrity of women's sports by prohibiting men from competing with female athletes.” said.
The governor's office said the governor has signed a bill that will be enacted in 2023 to “protect fair competition and the integrity of women's sports by prohibiting biological males from competing against female athletes at Texas universities.” announced the signing of the Women's Sports Protection Act. The governor's office announced in 2021 that the governor signed similar legislation “to protect girls' sports in Texas public schools.”
Abbott's office said he sent Wednesday's letter to Texas A&M University System, Texas Southern University, Texas State University System, Texas Tech University System, Texas Women's University System, University of Houston System, University of North Texas System and Texas It was announced that it had been sent to the university system. , as well as community colleges in Texas. You can read the letter here.
The governor's instructions are not the only national measures.Texas Attorney General's Office Ken Paxton said last month he would sue the Biden administration.accused it of “unlawfully using and violating Title IX to enforce radical gender ideology.” [the] The state's attorney general said the revised rules violate current federal law, ignore the Constitution and deny women the protections the law was intended to provide.
Attorneys general from 22 states are currently suing over the changes to Title IX, arguing that the Department of Education exceeded its authority with the rule changes.
