KINGSVILLE, Tx — Title IX is a federal civil rights law created in the ’70s to prevent sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools. Now, the Biden Administration has added a new clause. Beginning August 1, Title IX will also cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The most controversial aspect of that change is that it would allow transgender women to compete in women's sports.
Students at Texas A&M University- Kingsville shared their concerns when it came to the change.
Senior Chris Olivarez said he follows university and professional sports regularly and has heard arguments from both sides.
“I’ve heard both sides of it. I've heard there should be equality for everybody regardless of your gender you should play sports you want to play in, and I’m all for that. But there are also people that say men should play men's sports and women should play women’s sports, and there shouldn’t overlap,” Olivarez said.
He said he semi-agrees with both sides, and he can see where they are both coming from, but he leans more one way.
“Men should play men's sports, and women should play women's sports primarily for the fact that I don’t feel comfortable having a grown man coming into a sport that’s dominated by women just for them to reset these records that all these women worked so hard to do. I don’t see the fairness in that,” Olivarez said.
Sophomore Mark Paz also shared his thoughts on the change. He has also played and followed sports since he was young. He said he sees where the Biden Administration is coming from but still has his own stance.
“They want everybody to feel involved. They don’t want to separate people or make people feel different because of who they are. For me personally, I don’t care who you are. It doesn’t matter to me, but when it comes to sports, I don’t think men should be in female sports, or women should be in male sports because it's such a different competitive scene and such a different nature to all the sports and the physicality,” Paz said.
Paz credited female athletes but still stuck with what he says he knows and has seen.
“There are many women out there who can be tough and who have shown to be tough. The UFC is a perfect scene. You get some of those women, the most physical women ever, you can put them against a low-ranked UFC male, and it’s just a different game and different nature,” Paz said.
Freshman Taylor Hood agreed because of her own experience recently joining an intramural softball league.
“I did play on an intramural team that was boys and girls, and the boys definitely were able to play at a higher level playing field as they can throw the ball all the way from outfield to infield, and the girls could throw half of that,” Hood said.
Hood said that it could be seen as unfair if one team had transgender athletes and the other one didn’t.
“I don’t think it's fair to the other schools to have a guy playing on the girl's softball team where they can hit it out of the park or throw the ball from the outfield all the way home,” Hood said.
Paz also shared an off the field concern when it comes to transgender protection.
“There are going to be differences in the locker room. I’ve been in those locker rooms, basketball, football, whatever that is, and there are things that you should keep away from the other gender and vice versa,” Paz said.
Regardless of viewpoints, Hood said she knows one thing that is for sure.
“There’s definitely going to be people protesting against it and taking a stand against it or not playing their sport or maybe just holding a protest on their campus about it. That’ll be nationwide,” Hood said.
Although TAMUK couldn’t comment at this time, students said they hope that whatever happens, university officials will speak to their student-athletes and handle it accordingly.
“I would hope that they see this issue and tackle it to the best of their capability,” Olivarez said.
“That’s the reason I don’t get paid to make the decisions because it’s very hard to make both sides happy. You can never do that, especially in this situation. I do hope that they [university officials] come in and have that conversation beforehand and let them know what these changes are going to look like if things end up changing,” Paz said.
The clause change is already facing a legal challenge. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration over what he calls an unlawful federal rule.
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