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Two University of Texas professors are suing the Biden Administration for including transgender students in anti-discrimination policies.
Two professors at the University of Texas have filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration for its inclusion of transgender people in anti-discrimination policies.
The U.S. Department of Education announced in April amendments to Title IX, the federal civil rights policy prohibiting sex-based discrimination and harassment, to encompass transgender and nonbinary students. Schools who do not respect pupils' pronouns or force them to use restrooms that don’t align with their gender identity will be in violation of the law once it goes into effect August 1.
The changes also protect students based on pregnancy status, including those who terminate a pregnancy or are recovering from pregnancy. It requires schools to excuse students who terminate their pregnancies time off to recover "for as long as the student’s physician deems medically necessary."
Daniel A. Bonevac and John Hatfield filed their complaint last month, asserting that they will not respect the pronouns students who use singular "they," nor will they excuse students have "elective" abortions.
“‘They’ is a plural pronoun, and it is ungrammatical to use a plural pronoun to refer to a single person," the two each falsely claimed in their filing. "I will not violate the rules of grammar or make a fool of myself to accommodate a student’s delusional beliefs."
Singular they was first used in 1375, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, and is endorsed as part of APA Style.
The professors also referred to transgender and gender nonconforming people as "cross-dressers" and "transvestites," outdated terms often considered derogatory. The two stated they would discriminate against teaching assistants if they engaged in "cross-dressing" or wore "drag attire" while working.
Texas is one of 22 states that have filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration for the policy changes. The Department of Education has not commented on any pending litigation, but Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona previously explained the department’s position.
“These regulations make it crystal clear that no one should have to abandon their educational aspirations due to discrimination,” he said.
