by Citizen Frank
The Biden administration has scrapped plans to prohibit states from banning transgender athletes from participating in school sports.
According to Reuters, Biden’s Department of Education withdrew the proposed rule from the federal register on Friday afternoon.
The rule, if it went into effect, would have barred schools from banning transgender athletes from participating in sports teams different from their sex assigned at birth.
According to Outkick, the Education Department explained its reasoning for withdrawing the proposed rule in a statement.
”The Department recognizes that there are multiple pending lawsuits related to the application of Title IX in the context of gender identity, including lawsuits related to Title IX’s application to athletic eligibility criteria in a variety of factual contexts. In light of the comments received and those various pending court cases, the Department has determined not to regulate on this issue at this time. Therefore, the Department hereby withdraws the Athletics NPRM and terminates this rulemaking proceeding,” the Education Department said.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, one of the organizations that sued the Biden administration over the rule, welcomed the move in a statement.
“Women and girls deserve to compete on a level playing field, and the U.S. Department of Education has taken a step in the right direction by withdrawing this proposed change. As the withdrawal admitted, many Americans voiced their opposition to the rule change and there are many pending lawsuits related to protecting women’s sports—including a comment submitted by Alliance Defending Freedom and multiple lawsuits brought by ADF to protect women’s sports. The decision to withdraw the proposed sports rule merely reflects the views of the vast majority of Americans who believe that women’s sports should remain reserved for female athletes,” said ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Legal Strategy Jonathan Scruggs.
