U.S. 'Gender Identity' in Sports Provision Open for Comments

Rep. Patsy Mink (center) helped push Title IX through Congress. At a 1979 press conference with Bella Abzug (left) and Gloria Steinem (right) // AP File Photo/Harvey Georges

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, a provision designed to ensure fairness for women and girls in the U.S. education system.

However, what should be a celebration of the gains women have made is diminished by a growing threat to women’s rights, dignity, and personhood. American women are being presented with a linguistic sleight-of-hand in the form of gender identity ideology that would effectively nullify their legal protections.

The U.S. Department of Education has proposed amending the regulations regarding the implementation of Title IX of the Education Amendments. The proposed regulation, which will add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics within the Title IX regulation, is now open for public comment until September 12.

You do not need to be a U.S. citizen to add your comments on the proposed amendment to Title IX.

Those who submit a comment can upload a maximum of 20 files. Each file cannot exceed 10MB.

I have therefore prepared a folder of images that you can download and submit along with a suggested form letter opposing the addition of ‘gender identity’ to Title IX. You may feel free to use parts of it, or to simply write your own comments.

According to US-based women’s rights organization the Women’s Liberation Front:

“The Department of Education proposes to amend its Title IX regulations to grant special exemptions from Title IX’s prohibition against discrimination ‘on the basis of sex,’ for individuals who claim to have some form of ‘gender identity.

The proposal makes clear that the Department would not approach ‘gender identity’ as a quasi-religious belief system (which it is), but rather as a legitimate legal status that entitles anyone who claims to have a ‘gender identity’ to special exemptions from ordinary sex-based rules.

It means that, if a man demands to use the bathrooms and showers designated for women and girls, based on his belief that he has a feminine ‘gender identity,’ then schools (and many other institutions covered by Title IX) must allow him access, regardless of how much harm is caused to girls by granting his demand.”

For the question: “What is your comment about?” please select “Civil Rights”.

Please note that both the Women’s Liberation Front and Women’s Declaration International have provided tips and suggestions for comments, and that you do not need to be a U.S. citizen to share your views.

For further information and resources, you can also refer to the organization Save Women’s Sports.

Form Letter

Feel free to alter this, as it is only a suggestion for those who are unsure of what to say.

I am writing in opposition to the inclusion of ‘gender identity’ as a protected characteristic under Title IX, as this would have the effect of nullifying protections for women and girls on the basis of sex. Title IX was enacted to protect women and girls from discrimination based on sex, not “gender identity,” and redefining sex to include so-called “gender identity” would be extremely injurious to women and girls all over the country.

Including a sex self-identification stipulation alongside a protection against sex discrimination is antithetical. If a person can declare their own sex, then sex is meaningless. If reality is subjective and not objective, then there is no basis on which to define or defend reality. Self-identification is always implemented in a manner which trumps material sex, and thus the two are inherently at odds.

The notion of a self-declared ‘gender identity’ fundamentally contradicts the material reality of biological sex. Repeatedly, across nations, we have seen that policies which uphold the vague and subjective concept of a ‘gender identity’ take precedence over sex-based measures, too often resulting in serious physical and emotional harm to women and girls.

We have seen trans-identifying male MMA fighter Fallon Fox boast of beating women in public for sport. We have seen trans-identifying male Alana McLaughlin — a former member of the U.S. Special Forces — choke his female opponent Celine Provost. In both cases, male violence against women was portrayed as entertainment.

Studies have shown that female athletes who sustain concussions are more likely to have more severe and longer-lasting symptoms than male athletes. Women may experience more severe and longer-lasting concussion symptoms than men due to smaller neck size and therefore lower neck strength. The risks of injury are increased with the presence of males in female sports — particularly contact sports.

Women and girls who participate in sports, aside from improved health, also are less likely to suffer from depression and report increased confidence. High school girls who participate in sports are less likely to experience an unintended pregnancy, and are more likely to graduate.

A high school track athlete, Selina Soule, missed out on qualifying for New England’s regionals as the top two places were awarded to boys who identify as transgender. She said of the experience:

“The first race that I competed in against a transgender athlete was during my freshman year. Once the gun went off, the two transgender athletes took off flying and left all of us girls in the dust. I knew right then and there that some girls would be missing out on great opportunities to succeed, and that women could be completely eradicated from their own sports.”

Moreover, there is the issue of human dignity. Incorporating ‘gender identity’ policies in locker rooms sanctions the crime of public exposure. Allowing men and boys in female facilities prioritizes their feelings — and delusions — over the rights of women and girls to privacy and safety.

In the proposal to remove women-only sports and facilities, the United States is ignoring science. It is absurd that males are already being allowed to compete in women’s and girls’ sports categories given that we have known for centuries that males possess an advantage in the arena of physical strength. The onus should not be on researchers to prove what has already been documented. The onus should not be on women to defend rights they already fought for, and won.

Those who seek to erode the rights of the female sex ought to be burdened with proving why it is that the removal of these hard-won boundaries will not negatively impact women and girls. It becomes clear that the gender movement is a male entitlement power play by the very fact that they are able to successfully make demands without any proof of their claims.

The gender movement is rooted in sexism and essentialist notions of women as stereotypes. It is anti-science, it is anti-woman; the inclusion of a ‘gender identity’ within Title IX will sanction the removal of the rights of women and girls, and will undoubtedly harm them physically and emotionally.

Samantha Renck @samantharenck

.@TulsiGabbard: "A lot of women fought very, very hard to put Title IX in place, which is why it's so disturbing to see the Biden Administration and other very influential people in our society so easily pushing to not only get rid of that progress but essentially erase women."