Trump Executive Order Changes Title IX Protections by Defining Sex as Biological
President Trump signed an executive order reversing Biden-era guidance on Title IX, mandating federal agencies to recognize sex as biological. This change could restore protections for biological females and impact educational policies.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week, rolling back Biden-era guidance that offered Title IX protection based on gender identity. This move mandates federal agencies to implement policies based on the biologically-defined understanding of male and female sexes.
Conservatives lauded the change as a "massive win for America," with many declaring the "radical woke gender ideology" of the previous years to be dead. Kristen Waggoner, president, CEO, and general counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom, noted that the order signals a return to common sense and biological reality.
Waggoner predicted the order will influence education, restoring protections for biological females and impacting school policies regarding single-sex spaces such as bathrooms and accommodations on school-sponsored trips. "It will impact women's sports, housing, and how schools are rooming students during overnight trips," she told Fox News Digital.
The executive order requires government entities to adhere to the term "sex" rather than "gender," enforcing that government-issued identifications recognize biological classifications as either male or female. This could complicate institutions' efforts to accommodate transgender students and alter how Title IX is enforced.
Waggoner also pointed out that policies regarding the use of preferred pronouns in educational spaces could change, indicating that coercing individuals to affirm beliefs contrary to their own is not permissible.
During the Biden administration, some school districts adopted practices that kept parents uninformed if their child identified with a gender different from their biological sex. Waggoner warned that some blue states may resist this order, yet noted the Trump administration's capacity to withhold federal funding from those refusing to follow biological realities.
"You're going to see more parents, school board members, and citizens stand up and advocate for common sense policies now that the federal government is on their side," she concluded.
