Title IX Is Clear. The Problem Is Enforcement.
The Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in key Title IX cases. That matters. The case law matters. The legal clarity matters.
Women’s sports are for women and girls. That truth does not change based on political pressure or changing language, and the American people know it.
But here is the uncomfortable truth: even a strong ruling from the Supreme Court will not, by itself, save girls’ sports.
Why? Because the biggest failures right now are not happening at the federal level. They are happening in state legislatures and local school districts that have refused to act clearly and rationally, even as the law has become clearer.
At the federal level, momentum is moving in the right direction. Courts blocked the Biden administration’s 2024 attempt to rewrite Title IX by regulation, issuing a nationwide injunction that stopped enforcement. President Donald Trump’s executive order restoring Title IX’s original meaning, protecting female sports based on biological sex, remains in effect.
Federal agencies are now acknowledging what the law requires.
Under the leadership of Linda McMahon, the Department of Education is actively investigating states accused of allowing males into girls’ sports in violation of Title IX. The Department of Justice has been unequivocal. In correspondence with the America First Policy Institute, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon stated plainly that when males compete in female-only sports, “the protections afforded to female athletes by Title IX are lost — and quite simply, the law is broken.”
There’s your clarity. And yet, across the country, girls are still losing scholarships, podium spots, roster positions, and privacy and dignity in locker rooms and restrooms.
Not because the Supreme Court hasn’t ruled yet, but because states and school boards have failed to update their policies.
Title IX was created to guarantee equal athletic opportunity for females. That promise collapses when boys are allowed into girls’ sports. Federal courts may interpret the law, but states and local officials decide whether it is enforced on the ground.
Too many state legislatures have delayed action, citing “ongoing litigation.” Too many school boards have adopted vague, loophole-filled policies or quietly changed eligibility rules while hoping no one notices.
If that continues, even a favorable Supreme Court ruling will have a limited effect. Court decisions do not automatically rewrite state law. They do not draft school district policy. They do not enforce rules in local gyms and stadiums. That work happens closer to home. This is where women must step forward.
Title IX exists because women demanded it. And it will only survive if women demand that it be enforced, clearly and unapologetically, at the state and local level. Mothers, female athletes, and community leaders must press legislators and school boards with a simple question: Why are you allowing girls to lose opportunities the law guarantees them?
Waiting is a choice. Ambiguity is a choice. And girls pay the price.
Athletes and coaches also have a critical role to play.
They understand competition. They know the difference between fair play and cheating. They know that size, strength, and speed matter, and pretending otherwise doesn’t make sports fair.
When athletes and coaches speak plainly about what is happening, it becomes much harder for state and local officials to hide behind process or politics. Silence in sports has allowed this problem to spread. Leadership in sports can stop it.
The Supreme Court will rule. But whether that ruling has real impact depends on what happens next in statehouses and school board meetings.
So let’s be clear about what must happen now. States must pass clear laws defining girls’ sports based on biological sex. School boards must adopt and enforce policies that protect female athletes and female-only spaces.
And women, athletes, and coaches must be loud, organized, and relentless in holding them accountable. The federal government is doing its job. The courts are doing theirs. Now it is time for states and local leaders to do theirs before more girls lose opportunities they can never get back.
Women’s sports are for women and girls. That truth does not change based on political pressure or changing language, and the American people know it.
On behalf of young women across the Republic, we will not back down or accept excuses. We will push every state and every school to comply with federal law.
This is our moment. This is our mission. And we will not fail.
READ MORE:
Supporters and Opponents of Boys in Girls’ Sports Go Head-to-Head
Girls Are Now Being Banned From Sports for Wanting to Play Against Girls
There Is No Virtue Left to Signal
Stacey Schieffelin is the Chair of America First Women’s Initiative, Chief of External Affairs, and Director of Talent & Culture at America First Policy Institute.
Frank D. Murphy is the Chair of Athletes for America and Director of Community Impact at America First Policy Institute.