Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida “will not comply” with the Biden administration’s update to federal Title IX regulations that adds protections for transgender students.
“Florida rejects (President) Joe Biden’s attempt to rewrite Title IX,” DeSantis said in a video posted Thursday on social media. “We will not comply, and we will fight back.”
Title IX is the 1972 sex discrimination law passed to address women's rights and applies to schools and colleges that receive federal money.
The new regulations, which are to take effect in August, spell out that Title IX also bars discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
In the video, DeSantis said the state will reject any attempt to “inject men into women’s activities.”
“We are not going to let Joe Biden undermine the rights of parents, and we are not going to let Joe Biden abuse his constitutional authority to try to impose these policies on us here in Florida,” DeSantis said.
“We stand with opportunities. We are not going to let Biden get away with it. We will not comply.”
After the rules were unveiled last week, Florida and other Republican-led states said they were preparing legal fights against the Title IX changes.
“We absolutely plan to challenge this betrayal of women in court,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a statement.
According to several reports, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. has sent a memo to superintendents ordering them to not to implement any of the changes because they would violate federal and state laws, including the Parental Rights in Education Act.
Included are rules that prevent schools from allowing teachers to intentionally misgender students. Florida is among four states with laws intended to protect from discipline teachers who won't use the pronouns LGBTQ students use.
However, the update also spells out that “a stray remark” does not constitute harassment and seeks to protect free speech.
The new rules also prevent sex separation when it causes more than very minor harm on a protected individual, “such as when it denies a transgender student access to a sex-separate facility or activity consistent with that student’s gender identity.”
The updated rules don't specifically mention whether states can ban transgender women from women's sports competitions. But advocates on both sides of the issue say the language is broad enough that it could apply.
The changes also provide more protections for students who make accusations of sexual misconduct.
“These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights,” U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said after the changes were announced last week.
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