OKLAHOMA, USA — Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond joins Republican leaders in denouncing the Biden Administration's revised Title IX rules, which roll back several Trump-era policies.
Drummond announced he filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new rules on May 6.
The suit alleges the U.S. Department of Education, under the guidance of Secretary Miguel Cardona, "has created an unconstitutional reworking of Title IX protections" as it allegedly violates the First, Tenth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
Biden's new Title IX rules broaden the scope of sex discrimination to include protections for LGBTQ+ students and pregnant students.
The lawsuit claims the new "prohibition of harassment based on gender identity conflicts with Oklahoma's protections of student and faculty speech."
Under Oklahoma HB 3120 — which hasn't yet passed — the lawsuit says employees or students of public or charter schools are not required to "refer to another person using that person's preferred title or pronouns if the personal title or pronouns do not correspond to that person's sex."
Additionally, the lawsuit says the broadened definition of "hostile environment harassment" further violates the First Amendment because it considers all expression, including personal speech delivered online, as harassment.
"This broad framework inhibits First Amendment rights by chilling, or risking liability over, students’ expression on deeply held views regarding significant moral and political issues," the lawsuit states.
Further, the suit alleges that the new changes harm female students and violate the Tenth Amendment by making rules that go against Oklahoma's Save Women's Sports Act, which requires student-athletes to "sign an affidavit acknowledging the biological sex of the student at birth." It also strictly enforces that female athletic teams are not open to "students of the male sex."
The Biden Administration's new rules will also change how schools address sexual assault or sexual harassment allegations.
With this added layer of protections for students, the lawsuit states the rules will threaten to "collectively strip Oklahoma of millions of dollars in federal Title IX funds and to impose substantial penalties through private suits." The suit alleges the "severe financial exposure" will endanger the state's programs and higher education institutions.
After Drummond filed his lawsuit on behalf of the state of Oklahoma, five states, including Arkansas, and the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) joined forces to file a joint lawsuit challenging the new rules on May 7.
The lawsuit comes after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order saying Arkansas will not comply with the Biden Administration's revisions.
The Title IX changes are expected to go into effect on Aug. 1.
Read the Oklahoma's full lawsuit here.
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