Arkansas becomes latest state to defy Biden Title IX changes

Arkansas GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ordered state officials to ignore the Biden administration's latest changes to Title IX on Thursday, making Arkansas the latest state to fight back against the changes that add protections for transgender students.

The Department of Education finalized new rules related to Title IX last month, which expands the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity and pregnancy. Attorneys General in Louisiana and Texas have already filed lawsuits against the new changes, with Texas claiming that the new orders ignore the Constitution and harm women.

Dozens of other conservative governors have also resisted the new orders, including Florida, claiming they were unconstitutional. 

Sanders, who previously served as former President Donald Trump's press secretary, signed an executive order where she claimed the new rules are "ridiculous" and will lead to biological men competing unfairly in women's sports. Sanders also claimed it would give the biological men access to women's spaces and opportunities to compete for women's scholarships.

“If Biden gets his way, female college students will shower and change next to male college students, referring to someone using biologically correct pronouns will get you all in front of a disciplinary board for harassment and scholarships previously reserved for women will now be open to anyone claiming to be a woman,” Sanders said after signing the order, per The Hill. “My message to Joe Biden and the federal government is that we will not comply."

The order instructs schools in the state to comply with state law on transgender issues, which bar transgender students from using restrooms that are different than the gender they were assigned at birth. Schools will also continue complying with a 2023 law that forbids teachers and school officials from calling a student by a different name than their birth one without permission from parents or guardians.

“Only one of these is a law,” Sanders said. “We are not the group that has tried to circumvent the system, like the Biden administration is doing through the new guidance that they are issuing on Title IX. We are enforcing and upholding state law and we’re asking that our institutions follow Arkansas law.”