The LaSalle Parish School Board met in special session Thursday afternoon, May 2, to pass a resolution to join the lawsuit against the Biden Administration’s changes to Title IX.

By a unanimous vote, the Board voted to “join the State of Louisiana in litigation against the United States Department of Education and other federal defendants to challenge the Final Rule.”

Superintendent Jon Garrett noted the Title IX changes will drastically affect LaSalle schools and said standing against the changes by joining the lawsuit must been done.

“By passing this resolution we add our name to the lawsuit that the State of Louisiana Attorney General has brought against the federal government,” Garrett said. “With the changes in Title IX, the federal government has overreached like they never have before. We join with the State of Louisiana to argue that this overreach violates state law, free speech of the students, increases the burdens of school districts like ours and it goes against the democratic will of the people.”

On Monday, April 29, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, alongside key state officials, including Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, announced she has filed a lawsuit with three other states, Mississippi, Montana and Idaho, to stop new rules from taking effect and asking for a temporary restraining order to block enforcement while the lawsuit is heard in the court system.

Title IX was originally designed to ensure equal access for women in public schools and sports, but the new rules issued by President Joe Biden and his administration, allows Title IX to be applied to boys and men who “identify” as female, affording them the same rights and protections.

“Sex is now defined as ‘gender identify’ which means boys and men who ‘identify’ as female will have access to locker rooms, dorms, bathrooms and sports belonging to women and girls,” stated a report from the Danbury Institute. “This also means that males can take scholarships meant for females and will infringe upon free speech rights for those who do not wish to use a person’s ‘preferred pronouns’.”

Murrill said last week that the new guidelines are dangerous and unlawful.

“We’re not going to pretend there is some other kind of sexual category other than the two the great Almighty has set forth,” Gov. Landry said. “I would love to identify as Shaquille O’Neal, who I really admire. However, I can’t go down to the LSU basketball men’s coach and say, ‘Hey, I’m identifying today as Shaq and I want that scholarship… he would absolutely knock me off the court.”

The changes the Biden Administration wrote to Title IX are set to take effect August 1, 2024, if not stopped in court. They would be applicable to sports at all levels, including high school and lower grades.

Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley joined Murrill and Landry at the press conference announcing the lawsuit, noting he is supporting the lawsuit to stop the new rules from taking effect.

He argued the new federal guidance guts historical precedence from the landmark civil rights legislation.

The LaSalle Parish School Board is not the only school district in the state to join the lawsuit. The first to add their name to the lawsuit was the Bossier Parish School Board, followed by the Natchitoches Parish School Board, with more sure to follow.

The rules rewrite Title IX, requiring all schools, colleges, and universities that receive federal assistance across the country to disregard the concept of biological “sex.” In their view, prohibited discrimination on the basis of “sex” includes discrimination on the basis of “gender identity” – a term that has no defined or commonly accepted meaning, according to Murrill.

“The final regulations stand to harm students, parents, teachers, school districts, and states whose own constitutional rights are now in jeopardy, especially their right to Free Speech. If the school chooses not to comply, they risk losing essential Title IX funding while simultaneously facing lawsuits from the federal government and other proponents of these radical mandates. Yet this is also the outcome should the school fail to comply adequately, with standards remaining as vague as ‘gender identity’ itself. In other words, Title IX funding is threatened whether you comply or not, creating an impossible situation for everyone involved,” Murrill said.