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

WICHITA, Kan. – A federal district court ruled Tuesday to halt the Biden administration’s illegal attempt to rewrite Title IX while the lawsuit, State of Kansas v. U.S. Department of Education, continues. This is the third injunction that Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys have obtained to stop the administration’s unlawful Title IX rule.

In the case, ADF attorneys represent parents, students, and female athletes. ADF attorneys, together with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, the attorneys general from Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming, and Southeastern Legal Foundation on behalf of Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation, filed the lawsuit last month to challenge the new rule. The injunction covers not only the states of Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming but also every school across the country attended by plaintiff Katie Rowland, the members of Female Athletes United, the members of Young America’s Foundation, and the minor children of the members of Moms for Liberty.

“The Biden administration’s radical redefinition of sex won’t just rewire our educational system. It means girls will be forced to undress in locker rooms and share hotel rooms 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,” said ADF Legal Counsel Rachel Rouleau. “The court was right to halt the administration’s illegal efforts to rewrite Title IX while this critical lawsuit continues.”

“If President Biden had his way, a 16-year-old female high school student on an overnight field trip could be forced to share a hotel room with a male who identifies as a girl, or the district would risk losing federal funding,” said Kobach, who argued before the court. “We’re pleased the court ruled to rein in the administration’s vast overreach. It’s unconscionable, it’s dangerous for girls and women, and it’s against federal law.”

In the case, 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 of males accessing this private space.

The lawsuit explains that, when Rowland was just 11 years old, she entered her middle school’s girls’ restroom and was surprised to find a boy in the restroom. Scared and confused, she asked the male student why he was in the girls’ restroom. This situation made Rowland feel so uncomfortable that she progressively went from checking to see if there were any boys in the girls’ restroom to avoiding using the restroom altogether on school days—waiting nearly nine hours from getting on the bus to returning home.

Two other advocacy groups, Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation, also joined the lawsuit, represented by Southeastern Legal Foundation. Together, they formed a broad coalition challenging the administration’s attempt to redefine “sex” in federal law to include “gender identity,” and to protect the privacy, safety, free speech, and fairness for students and teachers.

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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