Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders (R) is ordering her state to follow state law over the Biden administration’s new interpretation of Title IX, prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports.
In an executive order obtained by The Daily Wire that Sanders will unveil on Thursday afternoon, the governor slams the Biden administration for its attempt “to unilaterally rewrite federal law to advance its radical gender ideology against women and girls.” Sanders calls it a “plainly ridiculous change” and says it will lead to biological males “unfairly competing” against females and violating their bathroom privacy.
Earlier this month, Biden’s Education Department unveiled new Title IX regulations blocking schools from enforcing blanket bans on transgender-identifying males in girls’ sports. Title IX is the 1972 federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. The new rules are set to take effect in August.
In her order, Sanders said female students must not be denied equal athletic opportunities or forced to risk their safety by playing with biological males. The order also says Arkansas public schools must not force students to shower or undress with members of the opposite sex, and should abide by state law that guarantees their privacy, the order says.
Arkansas policy is that “sex is an immutable characteristic of the human body, rooted in biology and the created order,” and “the government should celebrate, not erase, sex differences by providing proper protections for them,” the order says.
The order also says students and public school employees may not be forced to use “false pronouns,” citing the First Amendment.
Sanders ordered the Arkansas education department to provide “specific guidance” on how to enforce Arkansans’ rights “despite” Biden’s “unlawful” new Title IX rules.
“At no point should Arkansas law be ignored,” the order reads.
“The Biden administration’s facially absurd redefinition of sex in Title IX turns back the clock on women’s opportunities, erodes student privacy, threatens women’s sports, and erases women,” Sanders’ order reads. “The Biden administration redefines ‘sex’ to fit its own absurd political ideology — not science — and imposes it on women, girls, and children.”
The administration has “rejected reality and chosen to appease their left-wing base over students’ safety and best interests,” the order says.
Riley Gaines, former NCAA championship swimmer, will speak at the executive order’s announcement. Gaines is a vocal advocate for women’s sports who argues that trans-identifying males should not be allowed to compete alongside women and girls.
Sanders also warned that Arkansas is prepared to sue the Biden administration if schools lose any funding due to the new regulations. At least nine states have already filed lawsuits over the new rules.
The full text of the order obtained by The Daily Wire can be read below:
E.O. 24-06: EXECUTIVE ORDER TO PROTECT ARKANSAS STUDENTS, WOMEN, AND GIRLS
WHEREAS: Title IX was signed into law in 1972 and contained a succinct 37 words;
WHEREAS: Title IX was passed to protect women, not harm them;
WHEREAS: The Biden administration is attempting to unilaterally rewrite federal law to advance its radical gender ideology against women and girls;
WHEREAS: On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education released its final rule, in a document with a staggering 459,804 words, “reinterpreting” Title IX;
=WHEREAS: The new Title IX rule will unilaterally expand the long-standing prohibition based on “sex” discrimination to include “gender identity”;
WHEREAS: The Biden administration redefines “sex” to fit its own absurd political ideology—not science—and imposes it on women, girls, and children;
WHEREAS: The Government should celebrate sex differences between men and women – not erase them. See Executive Order 23-30 to Eliminate Woke, Anti-Women Words from State Government and Respect Women, signed October 19, 2023;
WHEREAS: The Biden administration’s facially absurd redefinition of sex in Title IX turns back the clock on women’s opportunities, erodes student privacy, threatens women’s sports, and erases women;
WHEREAS: The Biden administration’s rewriting of Title IX discrimination on the basis of “sex” to include discrimination on the basis of “gender identity” is a plainly ridiculous change that will lead to males unfairly competing in women’s sports; receiving access to women’s and girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms, and private spaces; and competing for women’s scholarships;
WHEREAS: The Biden administration has rejected reality and chosen to appease their left-wing base over students’ safety and best interests;
WHEREAS: “Sex” has long been understood as binary biological characteristics – male (an individual who has, will, or would but for a medical abnormality produce the male reproductive gamete) or female (an individual who has, will, or would but for a medical abnormality produce the female reproductive gamete);
WHEREAS: The Arkansas legislature has defined sex in Act 317 of 2023, on the basis of biology;
WHEREAS: The Arkansas legislature has enacted law, Act 317 of 2023, ensuring that public schools designate restrooms based on sex;
WHEREAS: Act 317 of 2023 further ensures that students share sleeping quarters with students of the same sex or are provided with single-occupancy sleeping quarters;
WHEREAS: The Arkansas legislature enacted law in Act 461 of 2021, Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, that mandates that when schools choose to make a designation, they must do so based on biological sex – male or female;
WHEREAS: The Arkansas legislature enacted law in Act 542 of 2023, the “Given Name Act,” which makes clear that employees of public schools and state-supported institutions of higher education do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at work;
WHEREAS: The State of Arkansas will pursue legal action, to the extent available by law, from the Biden Administration for any financial loss, including loss of funding, incurred by the state due to the passage of the Biden administration’s unscientific agendas;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, acting under the authority vested in me as the Governor of the State of Arkansas, do hereby proclaim:
- It is declared to be the policy of this state that sex is an immutable characteristic of the human body, rooted in biology and the created order. The government should celebrate, not erase, sex differences by providing proper protections for them.
- The educational institutions of Arkansas will continue to enforce state law guaranteeing the right of students to maintain their privacy. Students must not be forced to shower or undress with members of the opposite sex.
- Female students must not be denied equal athletic opportunities or forced to risk their safety by having biological males placed into female-designated sports leagues.
- Students and employees of Arkansas’ educational institutions may not be forced to use false pronouns. The right to refuse to speak a lie is guaranteed in the First Amendment. My administration will continue to protect this fundamental right.
- All accused individuals must be given robust, traditional due process rights if they are accused of harassment under the Biden Title IX Amendment.
- The Arkansas Department of Education is ordered to provide specific guidance on how to enforce the rights of Arkansans to equal opportunity, free speech, due process, and privacy under the U.S. Constitution, Title IX, and state law, despite the Biden administration’s unlawful administrative rule. At no point should Arkansas law be ignored.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the Great Seal of the State of Arkansas to be affixed this 2nd day of May, in the year of our Lord 2024.
