Biden admin unveils Title IX rules proposal to halt blanket transgender sports bans

The Biden administration unveiled proposed guidelines on Thursday that would prevent schools from imposing blanket bans on transgender participation in sports should they receive federal funds.

"Every student should be able to have the full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said, according to the Associated Press. 

The move comes as a bevy of states have enacted or are considering requirements that individuals participate in sports based on their sex rather than gender identity.

"The U.S. Department of Education (Department) proposes to amend its regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) to set out a standard that would govern a recipient’s adoption or application of sex-related criteria that would limit or deny a student’s eligibility to participate on a male or female athletic team consistent with their gender identity," reads the draft proposal.

The proposal would forbid sweeping regulations but allow certain restrictions should they "be substantially related to the achievement of an important educational objective" or "minimize harms to students whose opportunity to participate on a male or female team consistent with their gender identity would be limited or denied."

"[T]he proposed regulation would not prohibit a recipient’s use of sex-related criteria altogether," it asserts. The proposal is subject to a notice-and-comment period and must complete a lengthy approval process prior to being finalized.

On the same day as the announcement, the Supreme Court determined that a transgender individual may continue to participate on a women's sports team in West Virginia while the courts processed a challenge to that state's ban on transgender participation in sports teams based on gender identity.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.