Contact:
Executive Director David Schmus
david@christianeducators.org
888-798-1124

Christian Educators joins lawsuit to halt the Biden admin’s unlawful effort to rewrite Title IX

Thursday, May 16, 2024

COVINGTON, Ky. – On Thursday, Christian Educators, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), filed a motion asking a federal district court to immediately halt the Biden administration’s efforts to rewrite Title IX to include “gender identity.” The requested stay would put the administration’s new changes on hold immediately while a lawsuit proceeds against the administration’s new Title IX rules set to take effect August 1 .

Following the publication of the administration’s rule on April 29, six states—Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Indiana—filed a lawsuit challenging the administration’s attempt to redefine “sex.” Christian Educators, in partnership with ADF, quickly joined that lawsuit on behalf of its members.

If the rules take effect as proposed on August 1, public schools across the country will be required to implement policies recognizing fluid “gender identity,” or risk losing federal funding. This means that students who express a gender identity inconsistent with their sex must be given access to sex-specific safe places like restrooms and locker rooms and must be addressed by names and pronouns inconsistent with their sex. Males who identify as female will also be allowed to compete on women’s sports teams. Educators who have sincerely held philosophical and religious objections to these policies may be forced to violate their consciences or lose their jobs.

Additionally, these rules lower the standard for harassment at schools and increase the likelihood that opinions about gender identity—whether shared privately with colleagues or expressed on social media—will be weaponized against educators in Title IX harassment investigations. As such, the new rules create a chilling effect on free speech that violates the First Amendment rights of educators at schools bound by Title IX.

“No educator should be forced to say untrue things that violate their conscience to keep their job,” says David Schmus, Executive Director of Christian Educators. “Furthermore, this illegal rewrite of Title IX directly undermines what Title IX was intended to accomplish. If a male student can simply demand that he receive protections set aside for females because he identifies as a girl, then the original protections for those girls established by Title IX are undone.”

Following the publication of the administration’s rule on April 29, six states—Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Indiana—filed a lawsuit, State of Tennessee v. Cardona, challenging the administration’s attempt to redefine “sex” in federal law to include “gender identity.” Christian Educators, in partnership with ADF, intervened and formally joined that lawsuit on May 8.

ADF Legal Counsel Rachel Rouleau explains, “The Biden administration’s radical redefinition of sex won’t just rewire our educational system, it also means young girls will be forced to undress in front of boys in gym class, girls will share bedrooms with boys while on overnight school trips, teachers and students will have to refrain from speaking truthfully about gender identity, and girls will lose their right to fair competition in sports. We are urging the court to uphold safety and fairness for those impacted by the administration’s attempt to rewrite Title IX.”

Also joining Christian Educators in this action is A.C., a 15-year-old girl from West Virginia who was forced to compete in track and field events against a male last year who took away her spot to compete in a conference championship. A.C. also had to change in the girls’ locker room with the male athlete and endure vulgar, sexual comments that the athlete directed at her. Since competing on the girls’ team, that athlete has beaten almost three hundred female athletes in three years.

As the lawsuit notes,  Tennessee and Kentucky have state laws that would protect the privacy and free speech of teachers who are members of Christian Educators and teach in schools covered by Title IX. But the administration’s new Title IX rules would wipe away those state laws and the protection they provide Christian Educators.

Christian Educators Association International (“Christian Educators”), is a professional association of educators supporting, connecting, and protecting Christians working in our schools. CE provides a suite of protections and benefits for educators in public schools without the radical politicization of the national teachers unions.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.