Red-State Leaders Now Openly Defying Biden

Since the Biden administration’s revision of Title IX places “women at risk,” Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters is instructing all local school systems in his state to disregard the new law.

In a letter exclusively obtained by the Washington Examiner on Wednesday, Walters urged districts not to alter policies in light of the contentious Title IX reform, which redefines sex to include claimed gender identities. Walters called the revision “illegal” and not compliant with Oklahoma law.

Walters told the Washington Examiner, “In Oklahoma, we do not cave to the foolish will of Biden and his gang, eliminating women’s rights and putting them at risk.” “For this reason, I have directed all superintendents in my state to disregard Biden’s recent Title IX modifications, which let men enter female-only restrooms, dorm rooms, and locker rooms—spaces where women ought to feel secure.”

Walters said, “It is time for every state leader to stand up and say enough of this ludicrous charade that erases women and puts their safety at peril,” urging other states to take Oklahoma’s lead in opposing the Title IX revisions.

On Friday, the Biden administration completed Title IX standards, eliminating several safeguards from the Act that were in place under the Trump administration and incorporating gender theory into school procedures. One example of this is the allowance for males to use girls’ toilets as early as elementary school.

Walters warned the superintendents that the new regulation could potentially eliminate gender-specific locker rooms and bathrooms, along with other areas typically kept private and safe for single-sex use. Additionally, he issued a warning that the new regulations may make it illegal to refuse to use “preferred pronouns” for children who identify as transgender under Title IX.

In his letter, Walters noted that state lawmakers in Oklahoma are exploring laws that would define “man” and “woman” based on biological sex. Walters said, “I assume there will be litigation shortly challenging the legitimacy of these rules.” “I hope and anticipate that there will be a preliminary injunction and possibly a permanent injunction that will postpone the implementation of these regulations until the rule is determined in federal court, which could be an unlimited length of time,” the statement reads, “even though these rule changes are due to go into force on August 1.”

In order to help the school districts avoid having to comply with the new Title IX, Walters provided legal and policy support.

The Washington Examiner was able to get a copy of a second letter Walters wrote to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Tuesday, in which he denounced the agency’s regulations as “the most devastating attack on women’s rights in our country’s history” and demanded that he step down if he did not reverse direction.

The letter said, “The purpose of Title IX was to guarantee women the right to sex equality in education and an atmosphere free from discrimination.” “But with a single stroke of the pen, you have weaponized Title IX to uphold the administration’s extreme ideological stance, and you have pushed women’s rights back decades.”

Invoking a choice between “doing the right thing” and “going to sleep at night knowing that you have made it more difficult for women to achieve in America,” he urged Cardona to undo the rule modifications.

“You may still prevent the irreversible damage these restrictions will inflict on women, even if the country will never forget how you sacrificed women’s rights in a tragic attempt to appease the most extremist element of your party,” Walters continued.