I hope that the upcoming Title IX changes by the Biden Administration, set to take effect on August 1, 2024, are not overlooked as the world watches the Olympic Games.

The most important civil rights issue in our time is to protect the original Title IX legislation.

As a former college athlete who enjoyed the benefits of competing and succeeding, I am deeply worried about the dangers that regressive, misogynistic, and sexist changes pose to the rights of women to privacy, safety, and equal opportunity.

In the last few months, 26 states have sued the U.S. Department of Education, and its Secretary Miguel Cardona, over Biden’s proposed Title IX regulations. They claim that the regulation is too broad, as it exceeds the authority of the Department, which is a federal agency.

States claim that the new changes violate the 1972 landmark law which outlawed sex discrimination in all federally funded schools by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexuality.

19 states also blocked Title IX updates from the Biden administration, which prevented them from becoming effective. This is good news. I don’t think we would have seen such a decisive response two years ago.

These are the top four changes that girls should avoid.

The fact that men are taking athletic and academic scholarships intended for women is alarming. This is a more serious change than men competing against women.

Scholarships are often lifelines for women who would not otherwise have received them. The Title IX Scholarships provided by the government have enabled many women to continue their education.

As of August 1, men can access women’s bathrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms that were once reserved for women. They only need to declare they are feeling like a female. New policies may require that boys live in women’s dorms. It’s like a fox guarding henhouse if a college-aged male has unrestricted entry to women’s bedrooms and other intimate areas, such as locker rooms.

According to the new Title IX revision, students, faculty members, coaches, employees, or people affiliated with programs that receive federal funding will be required to use pronouns that are biologically incorrect in order for them not “hate” speech.

You could be charged with sexual harassment or lose funding if you don’t follow these rules. The term “hate speech” is not meant to be something you dislike.

Title IX changes do not just affect women. Men’s protections based on sex are also at risk.

Title IX reforms could lead to more severe punishments without sufficient evidence. This change could undermine the principle that an innocent person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. It would turn campuses into places where due process takes a back seat. The accused does not have a right to live, trial-like hearings with cross-examination and neither do the parties.

The new model allows the return of “single-investigator” where a single administrator acts as prosecutor and judge. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, college students in America are less likely to get justice when they face a Title IX proceeding than they would be under the Trump Administration.

How can the Democratic Party claim to be a party “of and FOR” women when it cannot even define what they are defending? Irony and hypocrisy are hilarious, but millions of women have to suffer the consequences.

The Riley Gaines Center was established at the Leadership Institute in order to empower and educate women so that they can advocate for policies which promote safety and fairness for all of us. We must insist that Title IX’s original intent is upheld.

I’ve seen people post on social media that they vote for Kamala because she is female. Well, I vote for Donald Trump simply because I’m a woman.