Conservative groups show support for Carroll ISD's lawsuit over Title IX changes
SOUTHLAKE, Texas - There are multiple lawsuits trying to prevent President Joe Biden's changes to Title IX to include protections for gender identity from taking effect. The Carroll ISD school board in Southlake is among those suing.
Some activists showed up at Monday’s school board meeting to support the district's efforts.
The Carroll ISD school board didn't comment on the status of the lawsuit against the rewrite of Title IX in Monday's meeting. But many people thanked the board for standing up to a change that they say threatens the future of women's sports.
In May, Carroll ISD became the first school district in the country to file a lawsuit against the Biden administration for changes to Title IX.
The landmark civil rights law bans sex discrimination in education. President Joe Biden had it updated to be more inclusive and ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Carroll ISD trustees claim it goes too far in adding protections for transgender students and attacks the rights of girls in the district.
"Title IX is designed to protect opportunities for women. Yet the rule change requires schools to do the opposite," said Lathan Watts with Alliance Defending Freedom.
The conservative group filed the lawsuit on behalf of the district.
Monday, the ADF joined another conservative activist group, Texas Values, at a press conference before Monday night's school board meeting.
Others, like former college basketball player Kassidy Comer, were there to show support for the lawsuit.
"I mean, we’re seeing so much traction with women’s sports. I don’t want to lose that," she said.
Comer believes if the updates to Title IX take effect, women could lose a spot in their own arena.
"So if these coaches, if these teams start seeing that one team is trying to get a competitive edge by using a biological man on their team, they’re gonna have to do something to be able to compete at the same level," she said.
Last year, Carroll ISD trustees passed three new policies affecting LGBTQ+ students, including limiting bathroom and locker room use to the student's gender on their birth certificates and not enforcing teachers to use a student's preferred pronouns.
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The Carroll ISD school board discussed the pending litigation during a closed executive session.
When it was time to make public comment, no one spoke against the lawsuit. Rather, those who spoke were in support of the board's stance on the issue.
"As a concerned parent, the thought of a teenage boy being allowed into a girl’s locker room is deeply unsettling. I believe no parent, regardless of stance, would want their daughter to come home from school and share such an experience," one parent said.
The board didn't make any comments on what was discussed in the executive session.
"We are different, but that doesn’t mean we don’t deserve the same opportunities as men," Comer said.
Earlier this month, a federal district court in Fort Worth ruled in favor of the state of Texas over its lawsuit against the changes to Title IX. The changes made to the Title IX regulations are set to go into effect on August 1.