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Austin Knudsen urges feds not to rewrite Title IX rules saying it would clash with state law – Daily Montanan

['Keith Schubert', 'More From Author', '- April']

Date: 2022-04-06 00:00:00

Attorney General Austin Knudsen and 14 other states are urging the Biden administration not to rewrite its federal Title IX rules saying the new rules would conflict with state laws, including a recently passed law in Montana that restricts transgender athletes’ ability to participate in school sports.

According to the Washington Post, the Biden administration is expected to rewrite Trump-era Title IX rules that would make discrimination against transgender athletes a violation of federal civil rights law in the coming weeks.

“As the Attorneys General of our respective States, we are alarmed about the Department of Education’s intent to propose new regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments,” the attorneys general wrote in their letter.

Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

The letter addressed to Assistant Secretary of the United States Office for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon takes aim at extending Title IX protections to cover discrimination based on gender identity.

While the official language regarding possible gender identity protections has not been released, the Washington Post obtained a draft of what it may look like.

“Discrimination on the basis of sex includes discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex-related characteristics (including intersex traits), pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity,” the Post wrote in a recent article.

But Knudsen and the other GOP attorneys general say the change would exceed the department’s rulemaking ability under Title IX and clash with state laws limiting transgender participation in school sports.

“One of Title IX’s crucial purposes, for example, is protecting athletic opportunity for women and girls. Adding gender identity to the definition of ‘sex’ in Title IX would have a detrimental effect on the great strides made over the last 50 years to create equal athletic opportunity,” the letter says.

During the last legislative session, Montana Republicans pushed through House Bill 112, which is currently being challenged in Cascade County District Court. The law requires schools to define sports teams based on biological sex. Montana is one of 12 states to institute such a law.

According to the letter, the changes would also weaken the Trump administration’s rules for how universities and K-12 schools handle sexual assault and harassment allegations. It also calls on Lhamon to recuse herself from participating in rewriting due to her role in creating the Obama-era Title IX rules.

“Given your past statements and record, there’s no possible way OCR or the Department can conduct the rulemaking process in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act’s requirements for reasoned decision-making,” the letter reads.

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