June 23 will be the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which prevents discrimination on the basis of sex for any educational program or activity.
The Biden administration is expected to expand the rule to also include a ban on discrimination based on “sexual identity” and “sexual orientation.” Some believe that change is a threat to the future of women’s sports in America.
Monday, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) gave a speech on the floor of the Senate saying the proposed rule would “tilt what was a level playing field to the far left.”
“We should be asking ourselves how can we preserve Title IX so female athletes 50 years from now can experience the same euphoric feeling of a hard work and hard-earned victory,” Tuberville said. “But unfortunately, with the Biden administration’s proposal [over] the next few weeks, we will lose Title IX protections for female athletes as we know it.”
The senator highlighted how he would continue to fight back against Biden’s progressive agenda in education and college sports.
“I plan to continue leading efforts against this misguided policy to ensure no federal action will negatively impact female athletes,” Tuberville said. “Recently, I have spoken with numerous female athletes who were able to compete – and win – because of Title IX.”
“Additionally, I introduced an amendment to prohibit federal funding to schools that allow biological males to compete in women’s sports,” he continued. “I have also repeatedly called for the Senate to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, legislation I helped introduce that would ensure the definition of ‘sex’ in Title IX is based ‘solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth’ and prohibit federal funding to institutions that do not uphold that definition.”
Tuberville warned the new rule would just demoralize women trying to succeed in college athletics.
“Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports will set women’s rights back 50 years, to a time before Title IX,” he argued. “It will discourage young girls from entering the court, jumping in the pool, or walking onto the field because they will know they have to compete with the deck stacked against. They can only hope to win second place at best.”
He said Biden needed to rethink this rule change before he destroyed women’s sports.
“There is really no pre-game speech or halftime talk you can give to a woman or a girl who feels like they aren’t competing on a fair playing field like 50 years ago,” he advised. “The Biden administration should do the right thing and rethink their decision that would destroy female athletics as we know it today.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” Weekdays 9-11am on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
