Williamson County school board and community members discussed the Biden Administration’s proposed changes to Title IX that would reinstate and strengthen protections for students who have experienced sexual assault and harassment, as well as LGBTQ+ students, at Monday’s school board meeting.
The discussion came shortly after a federal judge in Kentucky blocked the administration from implementing new anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students in Tennessee and five other GOP-led states that challenged the rule as unlawful. The administration’s revisions were designed to provide educators with guidelines for addressing any form of sex-based discrimination in educational settings and would allow students to access facilities such as bathrooms which correspond with their gender identity. They would also mandate the use of a transgender individual’s chosen name and pronouns.
The proposal has been met with a wave of backlash from conservative activist groups, such as Moms for Liberty, a far-right organization designated as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center that’s voiced its opposition to the Title IX changes at school board meetings both nationally and across Tennessee.
Genevieve Pahos, a parent in Williamson County who came to the meeting wearing a Moms for Liberty hat, asked the board to consider putting new rules in place that state that students’ biological sex will be the determining factor when deciding which bathroom that a student can go into or sports team a student can join.
“The simple reason I am here is biological boys do not belong in locker rooms, bathrooms and on the sports field with females, period. It’s very simple, this used to be common sense,” she said to the board.
Local parent Noah Krieg told the board that he worried the proposed administration changes would’ve presented some concerns around student safety.
“I think this thing to me, as a father, really boils down to having schools where children can feel safe, and then also feel [that things are] fair, especially in sports programs this touches directly on,” he said.
One recent high school graduate pushed back in support of the proposed changes from the Biden administration, adding that the regulations would better protect both students and staff from anti-LGBTQ discrimination and sexual harassment.
“What we are forgetting is that this is not only protecting the students, but the countless number of LGBTQ+ teachers within our district,” he said. “These teachers do not deserve to be subjected to harassment based on stereotypes of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
In addition to the discussion on Title IX changes, the board approved a revised budget that includes a 6 percent raise for teachers in the district. The revised budget awaits approval from the Williamson County Commission, which will vote on the budget Thursday at 7 p.m., according to board officials.
