Texas Interim Attorney General John Scott has filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration for its expansion of Title IX according to a tweet published by State Representative Matt Shaheen (R) on Thursday.
"Our Interim Attorney General John Scott has launched a lawsuit against liberal Democrat extremists in the Biden administration who are threatening school funding over radical transgender policies," Shaheen wrote.
On June 14, the Office of the Attorney General filed a lawsuit accusing the Biden Administration of allegedly unlawfully interpreting Title IX. The proposed expansion entails extending the prohibition of discrimination "on the basis of sex" within schools to also include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity". Title IX, which first became law in 1972, bans discrimination within federally funded educational facilities.
Interim AG Scott, who is serving while AG Ken Paxton is on trial, filed the lawsuit due to concerns about potential funding penalties and the direct impact of the 2021 revision to Title IX. The lawsuit specifies concerns such as locker rooms, showers and bathrooms, as well as the existence of sex-separated sports teams.
"The @TXAG office - under the leadership of Interim Attorney General John Scott - is continuing to punch the Biden Administration in the teeth," State Representative Jeff Leach tweeted on June 14. "The Administration’s unlawful and reckless guidance on Title IX could put at risk over $6 billion in federal funding that supports Texas K-12 and higher education institutions. And it must not be allowed to stand."
"Examples purported by the Biden Administration to be violations of Title IX include teachers failing to forcibly compel students to use classmates’ so-called 'preferred pronouns,' schools’ policies enforcing separate bathroom facilities for biological males and females, and schools’ policies refusing to allow biological males to compete on female sports teams," Scott wrote in a June 14 news release. "Under this doctrine, Texas schools would be investigated by the federal government for following Texas law, including Chapter 33 of the Education Code protecting the integrity of school athletics participation on the basis of biological sex."
"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," Scott continued. "The Administration’s unlawful guidance could put at risk over $6 billion in federal funding that supports Texas K-12 and higher education institutions."
