DeSantis vows Florida won’t ‘abide’ by Biden efforts to ‘rewrite’ Title IX over women’s sports

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed that Florida will “reject” the Biden administration’s effort to rewrite Title IX, which DeSantis warned will “gut” protections for girls in women’s sports.

“The Biden administration is plunging ahead with a radical rewrite of Title IX, seeking to impose gender ideology on K through 12 schools all across the country,” DeSantis said. “This will gut protections for girls and for women.”

“It will, for example, overrule rules that Florida has enacted that makes sure that our girls and women athletes are able to compete with fairness and integrity, and that you can inject males into those competitions,” he said. “And that you can inject males into women’s bathrooms and locker rooms.”

“They are trying to impose this under administrative rule,” DeSantis said. “They don’t have the authority to do it. And in Florida, we will not abide by it.”

According to the U.S. House Oversight Committee, the Biden administration is looking to redefine sex discrimination to take into account “gender identity” rather than simply biological sex.

By redefining sex discrimination to include “gender identity” in regulation, the Biden Administration will be eradicating female-only sports, spaces, and scholarships at institutions receiving federal funding.

House Oversight Committee

Because current regulations are based on biological sex – male and female – switching the definition to include gender identity would enact new protections for students who are biologically male, but identify as women.

Late last year, a court upheld Florida law ensuring that school sports are separated by biological sex, a measure that took effect in 2021.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a teenage student athlete by her family, who attends public school in Broward County. The student identifies as a “girl,” but was born a “biological male,” the ruling said.

Judge Roy Altman approved Gov. Ron DeSantis’ motion to dismiss the legal challenge, which was predicated on arguing the law violates Title IX, deprives a student athlete of “equal protection,” and violates “due process right of privacy,” according to the ruling obtained by Florida’s Voice.

“We disagree that the statute comes anywhere close to creating the sort of caste-like system the Constitution forbids – a system in which transgender girls are legally demeaned and degraded because of their gender identity,” the ruling said.

The law, SB 1028, was signed in 2021 by DeSantis.

The governor credited Rep. Kaylee Tuck, R-Lake Placid, and then-Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland for their work in ensuring the protections for women’s sports.

The full bill was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Travis Huston, R-Palm Coast, and the companion House bill was sponsored by Rep. Stan McClain, R-Ocala.

“As a father of two daughters, I want my girls, and every girl in Florida, to compete on an even playing field for the opportunities available to young women in sports,” DeSantis said in 2021 at the bill-signing.