State of Arkansas v. U.S. Department of Education

ST. LOUIS – A federal district court in Missouri ruled Wednesday to immediately halt the Biden-Harris administration’s illegal rewrite of Title IX while the lawsuit State of Arkansas v. U.S. Department of Education moves forward. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Amelia Ford, a high school athlete from Arkansas, joined the states of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota in a federal lawsuit filed in May against the administration for its attempt to redefine “sex” in Title IX to include “gender identity.” This recent ruling stops enforcement of the rule against Ford as well as against the six states that brought the lawsuit.

Out of five lawsuits in which ADF is involved, this is the fifth injunction halting the administration’s unlawful effort to change Title IX, a federal law designed to create equal opportunities for students in education and athletics.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for women and girls in Arkansas and across the nation as yet again a federal court has stopped the Biden-Harris administration from going around Congress to implement a ridiculous, nonsensical, and illegal election-year move,” said Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin. “Congress enacted Title IX to protect and promote educational opportunities for women and girls. This preliminary injunction halts the administration’s plan to allow men into women’s and girls’ locker rooms, restrooms, and showers. It stops the administration’s plan to allow males onto girls’ sports teams. It also protects teachers, administrators, and students from the threat of investigation or sanction for disagreeing with the gender ideology of the Biden-Harris White House. And it comes just in time before the start of the new school year.”

“Girls should know that their safety and privacy are of utmost concern for government officials, and the court’s decision brings them one step closer to that reality,” said ADF Legal Counsel Rachel Rouleau. “The Biden-Harris administration’s radical redefinition of sex won’t just rewire our educational system. It means girls will be forced to undress in front of boys in gym class and locker rooms, girls will share bedrooms with boys on overnight school trips, teachers and students will have to refrain from speaking truthfully about biological sex, and girls will lose their right to fair competition in sports. The administration continues to ignore biological reality, science, and commonsense, and women are suffering as a result. The court rightly decided to enjoin the administration’s unlawful rule, which will protect fairness, safety, privacy, and free speech for students, teachers, and female athletes.”

Ford is a rising 11th-grade student at Brookland High School, a public school in Brookland, Arkansas, that is bound by Title IX. The lawsuit explains that Ford cannot promote gender ideology by using inaccurate pronouns that contradict someone’s sex because doing so violates her religious beliefs. She also wants to feel safe knowing that boys who identify as girls are not allowed to use the female-designated restrooms, showers, and locker rooms at her school or to share hotel rooms with females during overnight school trips. Ford also competes on the girls’ basketball team at Brookland High and does not want to compete against and unfairly lose to a male who identifies as female. Like many girls, Ford wants fair athletic competition and will suffer deep distress and embarrassment by sharing girls-only spaces with males.

ADF attorneys have initiated four similar legal actions challenging the administration. In Rapides Parish School Board v. U.S. Department of Education, ADF attorneys represent a Louisiana school board serving more than 20,000 students. In State of Tennessee v. Cardona, ADF attorneys represent a West Virginia high school athlete and Christian Educators Association International who intervened in a lawsuit suing the Biden-Harris administration. In Carroll Independent School District v. U.S. Department of Education, ADF attorneys represent a Southlake, Texas, school district with a student body of approximately 8,400 that operates 11 schools for students from pre-K to 12th grade. And in State of Kansas v. U.S. Department of Education, ADF attorneys represent Female Athletes United, an organization made up of female athletes and other individuals who are devoted to protecting women’s sports, and Katie Rowland, a 13-year-old student who had to stop using the restrooms at her Oklahoma public school for a time because males were accessing them. Each of the five legal actions against the Title IX rule change has resulted in an injunction. ADF has filed more lawsuits against the administration’s Title IX rule and won more injunctions that protect schools, teachers, and students than any other organization in the country.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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