A top United Nations human rights official criticized the Biden Administration’s new Title IX rules, saying the change “fails women and girls.”
The Biden administration announced the changes April 19 that enhanced protections for transgender students. UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem said that the re-definition of “sex” to include gender identity could “increase the vulnerability” of biological girls and women in some settings. (RELATED: Victim Who Was Sexually Assaulted By Trans Student Files Lawsuit Against Loudoun County School District)
Independent expert Reem Alsalem @UNSRVAW warns that redefinition of ‘sex’ in #TitleIX of the US Education Amendments Act of 1972 will foster more violence and discrimination against women and girls.
“It is my hope that the US Government will act swiftly to reverse course.” pic.twitter.com/D4o0SCWAD0
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) April 29, 2024
“The erroneous redefinition of ‘sex’ through these implementing regulations constitutes a grave setback that will increase the vulnerability of the majority of women and girls to incursions into their privacy, including voyeurism, sexual harassment and physical and sexual attacks, by effectively removing single sex spaces,” Alsalem said in a Monday release by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The issue of biological male students who claim to be female drew national attention with two 2021 incidents in Loudoun County, Virginia, in which a student claiming to be non-binary assaulted female students. On Oct. 7, 2021, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office issued a release stating that a student had been arrested for carrying out an assault in a bathroom on Oct. 6, 2021. A second release, dated Oct. 13, 2021, acknowledged that the alleged perpetrator was also accused of a May 28, 2021, assault at Stone Bridge High School.
“The Title IX rule changes released by the U.S. Department of Education is a significant rollback of the promise of Title IX and explicitly fails women and girls,” Alsalem added. “It is my hope that the U.S. Government will act swiftly to reverse course.”
The Biden administration’s rules did not address transgender athletes, even though the administration proposed new regulations involving Title IX on April 6, 2023, that would prohibit states from barring biological males from competing in women’s sports. The issue became controversial following Lia Thomas’s participation in the 2022 NCAA championships, where the biological male won the 500-yard women’s final.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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