Buck bill to block Title IX change

‘This insanity has got to stop,’ he says of Department of Ed proposal

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, will join Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland, Ill., in the introduction of a resolution to overturn a proposed rule by President Joe Biden’s Department of Education to substantially change Title IX protections.

The rule change could lead to a deprivation of women’s privacy and safety, would supercede laws in more than a dozen states preventing male athletes from participating in female sporting events, could restrict opportunities for females, and could alter development by redefining sex and gender, opponents of the rule say.

The resolution by Buck and Miller would utilize the Congressional Review Act to overturn the proposed rule, which a press release from Buck’s office says is an intent to introduce radical sexual orientation and gender identity language into Title IX.

The resolution would build upon the Safety and Opportunity for Girls Act of 2021, Miller’s first bill in Congress. That bill, cosponsored by Buck and the other two Colorado Republicans in the House, aimed to define sex as a person’s reproductive biology and their genetics at birth. The bill further aimed to prevent Title IX from being utilized in such a manner that sex-segregated spaces and sex-segregated athletic or academic programs might be suspended by public education institutions. A sex-segregated space could be defined as a bathroom or locker room.

“The rule would require that male and female students shower and compete side by side, lower the standard of proof needed for sexual harassment claims, and prescribe punishments for students who ‘misgender’ their classmates, potentially suspending students as young as kindergarteners for using the wrong pronouns,” Congressman Buck said. “This insanity has got to stop.”

The proposed rule change was released Thursday by the Department of Education in order to seek public comment, a press release on the Department’s website reads.

“Our proposed changes will allow us to continue progress and ensure all our nation’s students – no matter where they live, who they are, or whom they love – can learn, grow and thrive in school,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

A factsheet prepared to

explain the rule change reads: “would make clear that preventing someone from participating in school programs and activities consistent with their gender identity would cause harm in violation of Title IX.”

“The answer to the question ‘what is a woman’ has been clear for the entire history of our civilization, and it has not changed since Genesis,” Miller said. “Leftists continue to push radical gender ideology on our children, and we must draw the line to protect our daughters. It’s time to make it clear that the definition of sex in Title IX means biological sex, not ‘so-called’ gender identity.”

She added her support for protecting bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams for women “like my five daughters, and so many others across the country. Title IX was created to enhance athletic opportunities for women, not threaten their safety.”

Comments to the proposed Department of Education rule change should be submitted at regulations.gov.

The resolution opposing the proposed new rule by Buck and Miller was not yet available Wednesday at congress.gov.