Hartzler Leads Call for Department of Education to Protect Women's Sports

Press Release

Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), alongside 40 of her House Republican colleagues, led the call today for the Department of Education to stop reversing decades of hard-won progress for women.

By including sexual orientation and gender identity in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the department effectively sets the stage for the elimination of female sports, threatens students' privacy and safety, and reverses decades of hard-won progress and accomplishments by and for girls and young women.

In the letter, the members state:

"Title IX was enacted to provide women and girls with a right to equal opportunities to obtain an education and pursue excellence in athletics. The Department of Education's unilateral rewrite in service of a misguided gender ideology violates both the letter and the spirit of this law, and we request the Department withhold and rescind any related rulemaking, guidance, or fact sheet."

The letter demands answers to seven questions:

What legal justification does the Department of Education rely on for its expansion of the term "sex" in longstanding federal law to include sexual orientation and gender identity?

What reading of Bostock v. Clayton County supports such action?

What specific rulemaking authority does the Department of Education use to reinterpret the prohibition on sex-based discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity?"

Is the department aware of the proven competitive advantage of biological males over females based on unalterable underlying biological characteristics?

Has the Department considered alternative modifications of education policy for students with transgender status short of expanding "sex" to include gender identity?

What communications from the White House support the Department's action on Title IX?

With what stakeholders, individuals, law firms, non-profits or other organizations has the Department met to discuss the expansion of Title IX's definitions to include sexual orientation and gender identity?

How will the Department handle the resulting claims of discrimination under Title IX that will arise from young women and girls who are denied equal educational opportunities in violation of the statute?

Recent examples of the erasure of women in athletic competitions include:

Lia Thomas: In 2022, the biologically male swimmer previously competed for three seasons on the University of Pennsylvania's men's team. Upon transitioning to female, the biological male won the NCAA Division I national championship in the 500-meter freestyle, beating two Olympic medalists and finishing 1.75 seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer, Emma Weyant.

CeCe Telfer: In 2019, the biological male competed in the women's 400-meter hurdles and won the NCAA Division II national title for Franklin Pierce University.

Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood: From 2017 - 2019, these two biological males competed in Connecticut high school women's track, winning 15 girls' state championship titles, breaking 13 individual meet records, and superseding girls in over 85 higher-level competition spots.

Members of Congress joining Hartzler in this effort are Reps. Aderholt, Robert (R-Ala.), Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Brian Babin (R-Texas), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Mike Bost (R-Ill.), Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Eric Crawford (R-Ark.), Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Jake Ellzey (R-Texas), Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Bob Good (R-Va.), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Michael Guest (R-Miss.), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.), Mike Johnson (R-La.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.), Julia Letlow (R-La.), Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), Brian Mast (R-Fla.), David McKinley (R-W.V.), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Burgess Owens (R-Utah), Greg Pence (R-Ind.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), John Rose (R-Tenn.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), William Timmons (R-S.C.), and Randy Weber (R-Texas).

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