U.S. Department of Justice Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan wrote a memo to clarify the impact of the Supreme Court's decision from last June 15 in Bostock v. Clayton County on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
The memo, which was issued on March 26, was directed to the Federal Agency Civil Rights Directors and General Counsels and ordered schools to allow biological boys who identify as girls to participate and compete in girls' sports teams.
According to Christian Headlines, the Biden administration memo with the subject "Application of Bostock v. Clayton County to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972" explains how Executive Order 13988, which was released on January 20 also influences Title IX, which requires educational institutions that receive federal funding to refrain from discrimination "on the basis of sex" in their educational programs or activities, including sports.
The definition of "sex" in Title IX is "male and female" but under the Executive Order 13988, which opposes and prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, schools are banned from discriminating against students based on their gender identity.
"After considering the text of Title IX, Supreme Court case law, and developing jurisprudence in this area, the Division has determined that the best reading of Title IX's prohibition on discrimination 'on the basis of sex' is that it includes discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation," the Biden administration memo concluded.
It also heavily relied on the Supreme Court's decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, a case in which the justices decided that businesses should not be able to fire an employee for being gay or transgender under federal law.
The Biden administration memo is a reversal of former President Donald Trump's guidelines in the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which then reversed Obama's guidelines that applied to discrimination based on gender identity and not just gender.
Back in 2017 under the Trump administration, transgender students could only play sports in the gender category that applied to their gender at birth, Inside Higher Ed reported. The Biden administration is reversing this ruling, which now forces schools to let biological boys compete in biological girls' sports.
The reversal of such guidelines as explained in the Biden administration memo was met with severe criticism from conservative leaders. Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel Christiana Holcomb challenged the new guidelines, arguing, "Female athletes deserve fair competition-an equal opportunity to compete, achieve and win. But competition is no longer fair when males are allowed to compete in girls' sports."
"Males will always have inherent physical advantages over comparably talented and trained girls; that's the reason we have girls' sports in the first place," Holcomb declared. "These committed female athletes and young women across the country-deserve an opportunity that's truly equal, without being sidelined by males dominating their sport."
