Diaz to fight Biden proposal enforcing trans athlete competition: ‘This won’t fly in Florida’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. is speaking out regarding the Biden administration’s proposed Title IX rule, which would bar schools from enforcing policies that ban biological males from playing in women’s sports.
The proposed rule would establish that policies violate Title IX when they “categorically ban transgender students from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity just because of who they are,” according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Education.
“This is a sad, pathetic attempt from a completely inept administration to force their woke worldview on the rest of us,” Diaz said. “Since Joe Biden can’t get Congress or the Supreme Court to rubberstamp his radical gender ideology, he’s resorted to bullying America’s students through the federal bureaucracy. Good luck – this won’t fly in Florida.”
“We will never allow boys to play in girls’ sports. We will fight this overreach tooth and nail. And we will stop at nothing to uphold the protections afforded women under Title IX,” he said.
The rule would apply to public K-12 schools, as well as colleges, universities and other institutions that receive federal funding.
The proposed rule also recognized that in “some instances, particularly in competitive high school and college athletic environments, some schools may adopt policies that limit transgender students’ participation.”
It would provide schools with a framework for developing eligibility criteria that “protects students from being denied equal athletic opportunity, while giving schools the flexibility to develop their own participation policies.”
“Every student should be able to have the full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination. Being on a sports team is an important part of the school experience for students of all ages,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said.
The federal government’s proposed Title IX regulation will be open for public comment for 30 days.
In 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” which specifies that an athletic team or sport that is designated for females may not be open to students of the male sex, based on the student’s biological sex listed on the student’s official birth certificate at the time of birth.
“Women have fought for decades to have equal opportunities in athletics, and we have to prevent those opportunities from being eroded as is happening in other states. It’s common sense,” DeSantis previously said.
