TOPEKA, KS (July 2, 2024): In a landmark ruling, a federal court in Kansas issued an opinion halting the Biden Department of Education’s Title IX changes in a lawsuit brought by Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) and Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) on behalf of their clients Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation. The organizations joined the states of Kansas, Wyoming, Utah, and Alaska, as well as other students and interest groups, in challenging the Department of Education’s blatant disregard for the First Amendment rights of K-12 and college students.
The members of Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation are parents and students in K-12 schools and colleges who fear sharing their true views—including the view that gender is not fluid, that there are only two genders based on biological sex, and that private spaces on campuses should be kept sex-segregated—in light of the Biden Administration’s unconstitutional changes to the definition of “sex” under Title IX. Under the Department of Education’s new rule, “sex” no longer means male or female but includes gender identity and sex stereotypes, so anyone who speaks out against gender identity, fails to recognize a classmate’s “preferred pronouns,” or speaks up for their physical safety and right not to have to undress in front of the opposite biological sex can be punished for harassment.
As the parties explained in the briefing before the court, this will have devastating consequences for free speech. The court agreed, ruling that the new rule is so vague that students will be forced to self-censor rather than risk punishment.
The order prohibits the Biden Department of Education from enforcing the new rule against the states of Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as every school attended by the members of Young America’s Foundation and the children of Moms for Liberty members.
SLF Executive Director Kimberly Hermann states, “The court’s ruling today stopping Biden’s Title IX changes from going into effect is a huge win for individual liberty, equality, and parental rights. We are glad that this court agrees with Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation that parents and students across America have a fundamental right to express their beliefs and deserve better from their federal government.”
Attorney for Mountain States Legal Foundation James Kerwin states, “”Today’s decision is a big win for the free speech rights of students, teachers, and parents. The Biden administration’s Title IX re-write would have required millions of Americans in the states of Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming to play along with anti-scientific concepts of gender ideology, no matter how much they might disagree. We will continue the fight to protect Americans’ freedom to speak their own minds, free from government interference, not to mention common sense.”
Moms for Liberty Co-Founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich state, “Gender ideology does not belong in public schools and we are glad the courts made the correct call to support parental rights. We will always stand up for the rights of parents and the protection of children. All parents must have their voices heard and their right to raise their own children is part of the very fabric of a free America. The federal government has no right to claim our children as their own or to push parents out of the classroom.”
Governor Scott Walker, President of Young America’s Foundation, states, “This is a victory for women everywhere whose voices will no longer be silenced by the Biden Administration’s illegal rewrite of Title IX. We will continue to stand for our students’ rights to proclaim biological truth and will cede no ground to the left’s lies. Soon, students can return to campus secure in the knowledge that they cannot be punished for what they believe.”
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