Late last week the Biden Administration issued new draft Title IX regulations that would prohibit schools and colleges from banning “trans” athletes from competing on any teams that do not match their biological sex. On the surface this represents a massive override of federalism and state control of education and youth sports.
But the fine print of the rule contains some equivocations that are a nod in the direction of reality: schools may limit trans participation in certain contact sports (one assumes football, wrestling, soccer, basketball perhaps, etc).
“The proposed rule … recognizes that in some instances, particularly in competitive high school and college athletic environments, some schools may adopt policies that limit transgender students’ participation,” the Department of Education said in a fact sheet. “The proposed rule 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.”
The uncertainty of this standard is almost as if the Biden Administration wants the courts to strike down the rule on account of its vagueness, while being able to claim credit for sticking up for trans-rights. If so, trans-advocates are not fooled, nor amused. In fact they are screaming that the proposed rule is a “betrayal.”
Get your popcorn ready.
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