( The Hill ) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) ordered the state on Thursday to defy new changes to Title IX that add protections for transgender students.
Sanders, the onetime press secretary to former President Trump, is the latest in a growing coalition of Republican governors to explicitly reject the Biden administration’s update to the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools and education programs that receive federal funding.
Sanders in an executive order signed Thursday said Title IX rules finalized last month by the Education Department that expand the meaning of sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity are “plainly ridiculous” and “will lead to males unfairly competing in women’s sports; receiving access to women’s and girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms, and private spaces; and competing for women’s scholarships.”
OK State Superintendent tells school districts not to comply with new Title IX rules
The order instructs schools to continue enforcing state laws that prevent transgender students from using restrooms and locker rooms and competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. Schools should also continue to comply with a 2023 Arkansas law that prevents public school and state employees from addressing minors by a name or pronoun that does not align with their sex assigned at birth without permission from their parents.