Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Parents Defending Education (PDE) led the charge three years ago against the National School Boards Association (NSBA) for asking President Joe Biden for “federal assistance to stop threats” against school board members based on spurious claims that concerned parents who attended school board members threatened violence against them.
In the letter, the NSBA compared these parents to domestic terrorists. The NSBA later admitted they were wrong to send the letter.
PDE is fighting back on another important issue for parents. The organization has filed a lawsuit with the Independent Women’s Forum, Speech First, and the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina over the Biden administration’s rewrite of federal law that takes away protections for girls.
Congress created Title IX to bar sex-based discrimination in schools or educational programs that receive federal tax money. What began under the Obama administration continued under Biden. Federal agencies “re-interpreted” the word “sex” to include sexual orientation and “gender identity.”
It’s absurd on its face, and the practical effects of this expansion mean that boys and men pretending to be the opposite sex are allowed to invade women’s restrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities where they expect privacy. This puts women in danger and violates their sense of modesty. Girls and women get no say in the matter.
The final rules also weakened due process rights for those accused of sexual harassment on college campuses. The Biden administration’s changes “restrict students’ ability to defend themselves from accusations of misconduct under Title IX,” according to the complaint (PDF). Among other things, students accused of sexual harassment no longer have a right to a live hearing or to cross-examine the accuser.
The U.S. Congress has the constitutional role to change federal law, not federal agencies.
“The final rule lays bare the Biden Administration’s contempt for families, trumping state laws which reiterate parents’ right to access information and make decisions about issues related to their children’s gender identity in schools,” said Nicole Neily, president of PDE.
Neily called the Title IX rule changes “both unconstitutional and immoral.”
Louisiana and Texas also filed lawsuits against the Biden administration.
