U.S. Dept of Education rulemaking seeks to expand definition of gender
CODY — Recent rulemaking by the U.S. Department of Education could have a controversial impact on Wyoming schools.
“I am outraged by the Biden Administration’s action to effectively repeal Title IX protections for women in America,” said Megan Degenfelder, Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction. “Not only does the Biden Administration continue to attack the protections of biological women and the rights of parents, but it does so without any Congressional action.”
Title IX, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1972, says, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
The new rules are meant to expand Title IX gender protections to include gender-identity and sexual orientation, according to the executive summary. They also mandate additional relevant training at all educational institutions and create new federal procedures to address grievances.
The new rulemaking was published April 19 in a 1,700 page document affecting rules and clarifications to the 1972 law. It was written by the U.S. Department of Education without action from Congress.
In a press release, Degenfelder said the new rules have “stripped the accused of due process protections and threaten First Amendment rights essential to religious conscience and free expression.”
According to Wyoming statutes, a Superintendent of Public Instruction is the administrative head and chief executive officer of the Department of Education and is responsible for accepting all federal funds for aid to education.
“If I was the parent of a daughter, I would be very angry,” said Rep. David Northrup, R-Powell, chairman of the House Education Committee.
Northrup predicted quick challenges to the rulemaking in court, saying they would likely be initiated by multiple state attorneys general. He said both the Wyoming governor and superintendent of public instruction would likely call for the state attorney general to launch such a challenge.
At this time, however, Northrup said the state legislature has little role to play.
“The state’s position is that these rules have no immediate effect and to conduct business as usual,” he said, making no changes since a legal challenge is near certain.
“We spent two weeks in committee preparing legislation to protect women’s sports,” Northrup said, referencing the work he and his committee had done last session to pass Senate File 133.
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) also criticized the new rules.
In a statement she said, “President Biden’s Title IX revisions make clear that this administration and Left-wing radicals want to eliminate what it means to be a woman.”
Hageman added, “Men and women are fundamentally different. Anyone who argues otherwise should return to elementary school and take a basic biology course.”
This story was published on April 29, 2024.