The office of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Wednesday challenging its Title IX interpretation and the potential protections it could provide transgender athletes, according to The Texas Tribune.
The suit directly challenges the Biden administration’s 2021 interpretation of Title IX, which extends beyond conventional interpretations to include protections for LGBTQ individuals, according to a press release announcing the suit. Paxton faces the fight of his political career amid ongoing impeachment proceedings against him for allegations of corruption and abuse of office.
State legislators voted in late May to suspend Paxton from duty indefinitely as part of the impeachment proceedings.
“Texas is challenging this blatant attempt to misuse federal regulatory power to force K-12 schools, colleges, and universities in our state to accept and implement ‘transgender’ ideology — in violation of state law — by misusing the Title IX statute to threaten the withholding of federal education funds,” Paxton’s office said in press release announcing the lawsuit. Interim Attorney General John Scott is leading the lawsuit in Paxton’s absence, according to the Tribune. (RELATED: Texas Representatives Demand Review Of ‘Radically Pro-Transgender’ State School Board Guidance)
Conventional interpretations of Title IX mandate protections against discrimination in federally funded education systems and institutions on the basis of sex.
Texas Court Reinstates Transgender ‘Child Abuse’ Policy https://t.co/heqGoNWFaE
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 14, 2022
The move demonstrates the office’s commitment to continuing its resistance of the Biden administration’s policies in Paxton’s absence, according to the Tribune. The Biden administration has warned Texas that refusal to abide by its interpretation of Title IX could result in a revocation of federal funding for the Texas education system.
One ramification of the Biden administration’s interpretation is that it would permit biological males to compete in women’s sports. The Texas state government enacted a 2021 bill which expressly prohibits Texas schools from operating under the Biden administration’s interpretation of the statute.
Texas’ LGBTQ policies have rankled the Biden administration, evidenced by a May press release from the White House.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that he would sign the “Save Women’s Sports Bill” later in the week, according to the Tribune.
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