by Sarah Roderick-Fitch
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has joined nearly two dozen state attorneys general imploring the Biden administration to protect female athletes by upholding Title IX.
The opposition from the coalition follows a proposal from the Department of Education to allow biological males to compete in female sports.
The proposal has been described as an “overreaching, unlawful rule that strips states of their power and duty to protect the equality, privacy and safety of women and girls,” in a press release from Miyares office.
The prosecutors say the proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Education ignores decades of evidence demonstrating the “benefits of applying the long-established definition of biological sex in sports.”
The coalition maintain the proposal fails to consider privacy, safety and fairness for female student-athletes. The rule also neglects to address the department’s “duty to analyze costs and benefits, and injects uncertainty into student athletics.” Furthermore, they argue it hampers the progress Title IX has garnered for female athletes for over half a century.
Miyares underscored the biological differences between males and females, pointing to males having an overall advantage over females in most athletic sports due to their physical stature.
“Biological men and women have genetic differences – that’s just a scientific fact. Many of those biological differences often lead to men being taller, stronger, and faster – therefore putting them at an athletic advantage. That’s exactly why we have women’s sports, and why Title IX exists – to create an environment where our female athletes can thrive, be competitive, and be celebrated,” said Miyares.
The letter from the attorneys general come on the heels of a similar plea last week from dozens of governors urging the Biden administration to rescind Title IX guidance, which would prohibit local and state governments from barring transgender student-athletes from participating on sports teams not aligned with their biological sex.
Miyares criticized the federal government for bypassing states imposing a rule that could threaten female athletes.
“The federal government is once again overstepping Congress and the individual states by forcing every public school to allow biological boys to play on the girls’ teams, threatening the future of women’s sports and disregarding the privacy and safety of teenage girls,” Miyares said.
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Sarah Roderick-Fitch is The Center Square’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Editor. She has previously worked as an editor, and has been a contributing writer for several publications. In addition to writing and editing, Sarah spent nearly a decade working for non-profit, public policy organizations in the Washington, DC area.
