GILLETTE, Wyo. — Wyoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder has joined a few other states’ leaders in signing a comment letter opposing the U.S. Department of Education’s proposal regarding Title IX and athletics.
The department announced April 6 it would release a proposal regarding inclusion of transgender students to promote the Title IX goal of ensuring equal opportunity in athletics. On April 13, the department issued the proposal, which would amend 34 CFR § 106.41(b) and affect K-12 and collegiate athletics at schools that receive federal funding.
“Under the proposed regulation, schools would not be permitted to adopt or apply a one-size-fits-all policy that categorically bans transgender students from participating on teams consistent with their gender identity,” the department said in a factsheet.
Arkansas Secretary of the Department of Education Jacob Oliva and North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt also signed the comment letter, which Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. led.
They said that the proposed regulation contradicts the intent of Title IX, the plain language of its regulation and current law.
Wyoming’s Senate File 133 “Student Eligibility in Interscholastic Activities,” which goes into effect July 1, bans biological males, as determined by genetics and anatomy at birth, from participating in sports against biological females.
“As a female collegiate athlete and coach, I am a champion for safe and fair women’s sports and that means keeping those sports to biological women,” Degenfelder said. “I was a vocal supporter of Wyoming Senate File 133 as a Wyoming solution to this issue. I will always push back against the federal government encroaching on our ability to deal with issues in a way that works best for Wyoming.”
.
