LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas, five other states, and the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) have filed a federal lawsuit challenging revisions to Title IX that were issued by the Biden administration in April. The lawsuit comes after Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order saying Arkansas would not comply with the new rules.
The new rules roll back provisions set in place by the Trump administration that gave a person accused of sexual harassment or assault more rights. The changes to the law would also provide more protections for LGBTQ+ students and how schools address allegations.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced the lawsuit on May 7, saying the changes are "nonsensical" and claimed the reason for the lawsuit is because federal officials have changed Title IX from protecting women to "radically reinterpret" the law to "recast it as a rule about gender identity."
Griffin said it contravenes Title IX's plain language and violates the Constitution.
"That's why we're challenging it," Griffin said. "It's also why we're confident the federal courts will set aside this unlawful regulation."
During Tuesday's press conference, Griffin named several reasons for their decision to pursue legal action against this new rule, the first of which was statutory construction.
"This is not a new law," Griffin said. "It's been around for decades, and the meaning of the statute has been completely different. It has been about opening opportunities for women, not shutting them down."
The second being a constitutional challenge against people's first amendment rights, Griffin says "Compelling people to speak in a particular way or risk, some sort of harassment charge, if you don't call people exactly what they want to be called."
Lastly, Griffin raised the point of arbitrary and capricious, of how Title IX has been "interpreted a particular way for a very long time," and then suddenly changed.
Griffin was joined by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who labeled the Title IX change as President Joe Biden "perverting the plain text of the statute in favor of a radical transgender ideology." Bailey also said that the Biden administration does not have the constitutional authority to change the law.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called the changes to the law make it "crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and that respect their rights."
The ACLU of Arkansas has called efforts by the Sanders administration to block the new rules an "aggressive attack" on LGBTQ+ people and said Gov. Sanders is "more invested in divisive politics and fueling culture wars."
"We call on Gov. Sanders to cease these draconian measures and redirect her focus towards improving the lives of Arkansans. True leaders foster unity and address the actual needs of people, not divide, bully, and exclude," the group said on social media.
Arkansas is being joined by Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the lawsuit. ADF is representing Amelia Ford, who is a high school athlete in Arkansas.
Ford, a 10th grade student, joined the lawsuit and her attorneys allege that using a person's preferred pronouns violates her religious beliefs. Her attorneys also say that she wants to "feel safe knowing that boys who identify as girls are not allowed to use these areas."
She also contends that she doesn't want to compete against transgender athletes and "lose her chance at fair competition."
When asked whether there have been any instances of this happening in Arkansas, Griffin said the state has "no obligation to sit around and wait until the examples pile up."
"Ford wants fair athletic competition and will suffer deep distress and embarrassment by sharing girls-only spaces with males," the ADF said in a press release.
The ACLU of Arkansas said the lawsuit "misrepresents" the changes to Title IX, "which ensure educational equity regardless of gender identity."
The ADF is a legal group that works to protect "religious freedom, free speech, the sanctity of life, marriage and family, and parental rights.”
The new Title IX rules are expected to go into effect on August 1, 2024.