The executive order is just the latest act to counter Biden's changes to Title IX, joining lawsuits and a Supreme Court decision
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Idaho governor Brad Little signed an executive order in his state to oppose the Biden-Harris administration’s final rule for Title IX, seen in documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
The order is titled the "Defending Women's Sports Act."
The executive order directs the Idaho State Board of Education to guarantee two things:
1. Work with the State Department of Education to ensure Idaho public schools are following all of Idaho’s laws related to fairness in women’s sports and continue to update all public schools as the legal challenges to the new Title IX rules unfold.
2. Guarantee every female student in Idaho is provided equal opportunity in sports and school to the fullest extent, as guaranteed to them under the original Title IX rules and Idaho law.
"These girls and women, and their families, dedicate their time, passion, and money to improve their skills and compete to win," Little told reporters on the Idaho State Capitol steps in Boise on Wednesday. "They deserve a level playing field. That is why it is so important for us as a state to do all we can to protect and defend women’s sports."
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Former women's college swimmer Riley Gaines, who is also the host of OutKick's "Gaines for Girls" podcast, spoke at the press conference too.
Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines is sworn in during a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing on Capitol Hill December 5, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
"I can wholeheartedly attest to the unfair composition, to the tears that I saw from not just the moms in the stands watching as their daughter be obliterated in the sport that they once loved, but the tears from the girls the place ninth and 17th and missed out on being named all Americans by one place," Gaines said. "I am thrilled to be here today with these legislators, with Governor Little to say that Idaho will not comply."
The current administration's final rule of Title IX took effect this month, which seeks to protect against discrimination "based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics."
On Aug. 16, The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to strike down the current administration's emergency request to enforce portions of a new rule that includes protections from discrimination for transgender students under Title IX.
The request would have permitted biological men in women’s bathrooms, locker rooms and dorms in 10 states where there are state-level and local-level rules in place to prevent it.
That rule, issued in April, clarified that Title IX’s ban on "sex" discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and "pregnancy or related conditions."
Kamala Harris is currently serving as Vice President of the United States for the Biden-Harris administration. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Little's executive order is the latest move to combat the new final rule. More than two dozen Republican attorneys general sued over the rule and argued it would conflict with some of their state laws that block transgender students from participating in women’s sports.
The Biden administration insisted the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that refuted Biden's claims.
One incident occurred in West Virginia after it passed the Save Women Sports Act in 2021, prohibiting transgender girls from competing against biological girls in sports. Then a 13-year-old transgender middle school student in West Virginia, known as BPJ, successfully obtained a federal court injunction to compete in female sports.
"We wanted to avoid the sexual harassment of girls in the locker room, avoid women being displaced on their own teams and unfortunately, during the litigation, West Virginia's role was stayed just in terms of that one athlete," Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) legal counsel Rachel Rouleau previously told Fox News Digital.
Brad Little, Governor of Idaho speaks on the 2nd day of the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) Washington, DC conference at Gaylord National Harbor Resort. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Gaines is currently in the midst of a lawsuit to address having to compete against and share a locker room with a biological male at the collegiate level. Gaines has agreed to testify in Georgia about her experience competing against and sharing a locker room with a biological male, Lia Thomas, alongside four other NCAA All-American women athletes, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Gaines joined Reka Gyorgy, Kylee Alons, Grace Countie and Kaitlynn Wheeler, all members of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), who filed a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) in March alleging the association knowingly violated Title IX in allowing Thomas to compete.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
