Sep. 12, 2022
HARRISBURG—Rep. Martina White (R-Philadelphia) and 61 of her colleagues
signed a letter to the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights urging the office reverse its proposal to amend Title IX which protects women’s sports from discrimination.
“This would decimate all the protections Title IX gave women’s sports,” White said. “It would gut the law that was designed to protect women.”
As the members wrote in their letter: “These proposed rule "changes" do not change Title IX, rather they end Title IX as we know it, erasing 50 years of progress towards gender equality and women's academic and athletic achievement.”
The members argued that redefining the term "sex" to include “gender identity" and "sexual orientation" will allow biological males to compete in women's sports, placing women and girls at a disadvantage both on the field and in the competition for athletic scholarships.
“Biological males will be allowed in women's spaces, as schools will be required to give biological men access to women's restrooms, locker rooms, showers and athletic facilities, violating women's basic right to privacy and creating a high-risk environment for women and girls in what previously were safe spaces,” the members wrote.
In April, the General Assembly passed
House Bill 972, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which would have barred biological males from playing women’s sports. It was vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf.
After the veto, White joined colleagues Reps. Barb Gleim (R-Cumberland), Stephanie Borowicz (R-Clinton/Centre), Valerie Gaydos (R-Allegheny), and Dawn Keefer (R-York) in issuing the following statement:
“The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act passed by majorities in both the House and Senate with members casting votes representing their districts. Unfortunately, and predictably, Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed the bill, making it clear what we knew all along – he does not support women and their opportunity to compete on a level playing field. He does not support Title IX and the important advances women have made in scholastic athletics in the last 50 years.”
In the letter to the Biden Administration’s Department of Education it states “Through its sweeping proclamations set forth by this proposed rulemaking, the Department seeks to advance, and force compliance with, its own political views and agenda on sexual orientation and gender identity,” the representatives said in their letter to the Department of Education. “These proposed changes to Title IX represent one of the most aggressive, socially engineered overreaches of government in American history, which threatens parental rights; children's physical, mental and spiritual health; and constitutional civil liberties.”
Representative Martina White
170th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: David Foster
267.207.0207
dfoster@pahousegop.com
RepWhite.com / facebook.com/RepMartinaWhite