By Rachael Wong
The US has started off the year for women's sex-based rights with a bang!
US Federal Court rejects Biden administration's redefinition of 'sex' in Title IX
Last week, a federal district court in Kentucky blocked the Biden administration's attempt to redefine “sex” in US federal law ‘Title IX’ to include “gender identity”, a move that legal commentators are calling "a colossal win for women and girls across the country".
This ruling applies nationwide, invalidating the Biden Title IX rule and protecting fairness, safety and privacy for women and girls by preserving single-sex sports, facilities and programs in educational institutions.
In other words, males who identity as female are not allowed to compete in female-only sports or access female-only spaces like changing rooms and bathrooms in educational institutions.
The court's decision upholds the original intent of Title IX, which is to prohibit discrimination “on the basis of sex” in educational institutions, thereby creating equal opportunities for women and girls.
In its decision, the US federal court noted that “expanding the meaning of ‘on the basis of sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ turns Title IX on its head.”
That is EXACTLY what happened when Australia’s Sex Discrimination Act was amended to include “gender identity” in 2013 and the biological definitions of "woman" and "man" were removed. It’s high time these amendments were repealed, and the original intent of the SDA to protect women and girls against discrimination on the basis of sex was restored.
US House of Representatives passes “Protection of Women and Girls in Sport Act”
Following the Kentucky ruling on Title IX, the US House of Representatives has this week passed the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sport Act”.
The law amends Title IX – the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education – to ensure sex is biologically defined.
Contrary to what the media would have you believe, no one is being ‘banned’ from sport. The rules that are meant to apply to sex-based sports are simply being enforced in educational settings so that everyone competes in the appropriate category i.e. no men or boys in women’s and girls’ sports.
In this way, fairness and safety for women and girls is protected, which is the whole reason we have sex-based sport in the first place.
The law still needs to pass the Senate, but this is an excellent, commonsense step by US politicians in protecting women’s sport.
It’s time Australian leaders also led on this issue, and restored the sex-based rights and protections of women and girls not only in sport, but in all aspects of society.
Rachael Wong is the CEO of Women's Forum Australia
Women’s Forum Australia is an independent think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy advocacy on issues affecting women and girls, with a particular focus on addressing behaviours and practices that are harmful and abusive to them. We are a non-partisan, non-religious, tax-deductible charity. We do not receive any government funding and rely solely on donations to make an impact. Support our work today.
I’ll stand with women ▷ |