Federal rule on Title IX is a ruse to require trans sports participation, GOP states say

The Biden administration has put on hold a plan to prohibit across-the-board bans on transgender athletes on school teams during an election year in which Republicans are rallying around restrictions on trans youths. But GOP state leaders are making sure voters know the issue is still on the table.

At least two dozen Republican-controlled states have sued over a different federal regulation being implemented to protect the rights of transgender students that they argue would require governments to allow transgender girls to play on girls teams.

The rule they are challenging doesn't specifically mention transgender athletes. It spells out that Title IX, the landmark 1972 law originally passed to address women's rights at schools and colleges receiving federal money, also bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Republicans now are trying to keep the focus on sports, appealing to parents' and athletes' sensitivities over fairness in competition. They have student athletes signing on as plaintiffs and appearing alongside attorneys general at news conferences announcing the lawsuits.

The states argue the new rule would open the door to forcing schools to allow transgender athletes to compete on teams aligning with their gender identity, even if the rule doesn’t say so specifically. They may have a point.

The new regulation “gives a pretty good sense that says, ‘You can’t have a rule that says if you’re transgender, you can’t participate,’” said Harper Seldin, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which has represented trans athletes in unrelated cases.

He said that while he hopes separate sports-related regulations will back that up, that's not yet clear.

Advocates for transgender