Does the New Title IX Rule Threaten Women’s Rights and Freedoms as We Know It? 

On Friday, April 19, the Biden Administration finally rolled out new rules to amend Title IX regulations and expand the legal definition of sex to include sexual orientation and gender identity. These proposed changes were first introduced by the Biden Administration in July 2022 and they will go into effect on August 1, 2024. But they will have broad and sweeping effects on primary, secondary, and post-secondary education all across the country, influencing and impacting student programs, facilities, scholarships, housing, healthcare, the freedom of speech, and religion in public spaces.

Some might be asking, if so highly controversial, why is the Biden Administration moving ahead to make these changes? Part of this calculation is to include the Supreme Court’s Bostock ruling of 2020 into the new Title IX regulation so as to be the most LGBTQ-friendly administration in U.S. history. Biden is trying to cement that legacy and make it a campaign issue in 2024.

The problem is that anyone paying attention, and who may be immune to the whims of Clown World, will understand that this new definition extends well beyond the intended language of the original Title IX definition, which had always assumed biological reality.

So what harm can be done by these new rules? Well, it most definitely hurt fairness and equal opportunity in women’s sports. It greatly jeopardizes women’s rights to privacy and safety. And this is exactly what made collegiate athlete Riley Gaines a household name because of her courageous public defense of women against radical gender ideology and the transgender movement.

These new rules also undermine parental rights because it seeks to compel schools to treat students on the basis of their preferred sexual orientation and gender identity, rather than on the basis of parental knowledge or parental consent. Schools would have the ability to undermine parental authority by making critical and, in some cases, irreversible decisions regarding a child’s emotional, mental, and physical health solely based on the new policy.

Finally, the proposed changes also threaten freedom of speech and religion by compelling and censoring students, professors, and administrators at any public school or university to use pronouns and titles inconsistent with a person’s biological sex. Yes, being forced to call someone by their preferred pronoun against biological reality is a violation of someone else’s freedom of conscience. And violating conscience, speech, or religion is also discriminatory under Title IX.

But perhaps the showdown between religious freedom and sexual orientation and gender identity was exactly the confrontation some were hoping for. Could this be a designed play? If so, how should Christians think about it?

Today, we need not be confused about inalienable rights that come from God and de jure rights that come from government. Our Constitution attempted to articulate those inalienable rights because they were getting at the essence of freedom. All freedom is derived from our Creator, and while not every government is capable of defining or defending those rights, they are pre-political and exist outside of any bureaucracy. All biological reality was determined at creation by the God of creation.

While de jure rights are being determined by fiat, much like the American monetary system, you can rest assure that the paper becomes less valuable the more it is printed, and when it no longer bears the motto “In God We Trust,” you can’t take it to the bank.

The grand irony of the new rules following the new gender ideology is that it commits two evils. One, it denies the God who made male and female and places an unelected bureaucracy as the ultimate governing authority who can overturn biological reality. Second, it denies justice and equal rights to the very group it claims to defend — women.

A government that cannot define a woman cannot possibly protect her inalienable rights. That’s exactly where we are today.

So what do we need now more than ever?

We desperately need revival in America. The reason we have such a fragmented and incoherent understanding of rights and freedoms in America is because we have a government and a people that have denied God along with the universe He has made. And this isn’t just a political problem. At its roots, it is a deeply spiritual problem. America needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and bold defenders of freedom and basic biology in the public square.

Interested in pursuing a fully accredited biblically based education? Liberty University has been training students to serve as “Champions for Christ” in their respective professions across the industry spectrum for over 50 years. With over 350 residential academic concentrations, 20 NCAA Division 1 athletic programs, opportunities to serve domestically and abroad, and an unapologetic Christian worldview, your experience at Liberty University will provide an education that roots you in truth and allows you to learn, grow, and impact the culture for Christ. Apply now!