Secretary McMahon's Speech Outside of Supreme Court as Justices Hear Landmark Title IX Cases

Good morning, everyone. It is truly an honor for me to be here today.

Just up those steps, attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom are presenting oral arguments-living up to ADF's name-in defense of freedom.

Freedom not just for states to legislate in accordance with their citizens' will, but for women to compete in sports without being pitted unfairly against biological males. How tragic that women are still fighting for their right to have equal access and equal opportunity in athletics programs.

For more than thirty years, the Alliance Defending Freedom has consistently and effectively fought back against threats to liberty and equal treatment under the law. This work is more important than ever now, with divisive ideologies, wokeness, and DEI attempting to reshape our culture.

For this vital work, we owe them our most sincere thanks.

I remember our fight as women to secure equal educational opportunities under Title IX over 50 years ago. In 2020, President Trump's Department of Education continued that fight and made it clear that Title IX, which protects against discrimination on the basis of sex in education, is rooted in biological reality.

But everything changed when the Biden Administration made the decision to indulge in a false worldview that undermines women's rights and puts girls in danger. In just four years, the Biden Administration reversed decades of progress, twisting the law to argue that 'sex' is not defined by objective biological reality, but by the subjective notion of 'gender identity.'

We have seen the consequences of the Biden Administration's advocacy of a radical transgender agenda. Institutions stripped women and girls of their access to fair competition and dignified private facilities. They forced women into unfair and humiliating situations that have led to sexual assault, harassment, and in some cases, permanent injury. To say the least, the last four years have been hell for these girls.

That is why the Trump Administration has been committed to restoring an understanding of sex based in scientific reality, alongside organizations like ADF, Do No Harm, and all Americans who stand up to the harmful and radical dictates of gender ideology in all its forms. Over the past few years, we have seen the culmination of decades-long efforts that have lurched into nearly every aspect of American life, reshaping our schools, corporations, and universities.

This gender ideology has transformed once-great academic and athletic institutions into embarrassments-with tragic consequences for women and girls.

Take, for example, Payton McNabb, who during a volleyball match suffered brain damage from being hit with a ball by a male athlete masquerading as a female.

Or the female swimmers like Paula Scanlan at the University of Pennsylvania, who were forced to share locker rooms and compete against a much larger man who had previously competed (without much success) on the men's team.

And let's not forget the two brave girls in Idaho who were forced to compete against a male in track and cross country, spurring the passage of the Fairness in Women's Sports Act in Idaho and the litigation that is being argued today.

Or the over 100 girls in West Virginia who were moved down the leaderboard as a male athlete dominated their track-and-field state qualifiers - even after the state passed the Save Women's Sports Act - because a federal court halted its enforcement.

The list of examples goes on and on. Adults in positions of authority have forced girls to undress with men in their most intimate spaces. They have forced women to risk injury just to participate in athletic competitions that some have spent their whole lives preparing for, and then smeared these women as 'bigoted' and 'transphobic' for standing up for their own safety and dignity.

It must end. These courageous students demonstrate why restoring fairness in women's sports is a moral imperative.

The cases being argued today are not abstract legal debates. They reflect a real, troubling pattern of harm inflicted by radical forces working to reshape our culture.

Americans have had enough of women and girls losing opportunities and being subjected to the indignity and danger of unfair competition due to the left's warped application of federal law.

That is why Americans overwhelmingly elected President Trump to end this madness and restore common sense by returning sanity to the sexes.

When President Trump nominated me as Secretary of Education, I made restoring Title IX one of my top priorities. We set the record straight on Title IX with a Dear Colleague Letter reiterating what federal courts had already ruled: that the Biden Administration's damaging Title IX re-write no longer applies, and enforcement must be based on biological reality.

Amid a staggering increase of Title IX complaints, we partnered with the Department of Justice to create the Title IX Special Investigations Team. This has streamlined our investigations and expedited enforcement.

This was followed by a campaign of investigations and subsequent settlements with school districts and universities alike.

Our settlement with the University of Pennsylvania set the tone for all other educational institutions. UPenn was at the epicenter of this debate. Our agreement with the university led to the restoration of female athletes' rightful titles, the elimination of policies that allowed students to compete on teams based on their "gender identity" rather than sex, and the issuance of an apology to female athletes whose educational experience was marred by sex-discrimination. Schools like Wagner College and Brown followed soon after with similar settlements.

A year ago, who could have predicted this outcome? This is the Trump effect in action.

I would like to thank everyone in the Administration who has fought for common sense- especially Attorney General Bondi, whose strong support and vigorous enforcement of Title IX has restored fairness and justice to women and girls across our nation.

As we await the Supreme Court's rulings in Little v. Hecox and State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., we remain steadfast in enforcing Title IX as it was intended, rooted in biological reality to ensure fairness, safety, and equal access to education programs for women and girls across our nation.

As President Trump has made clear, America is in its Golden Age, one where female students and athletes have equal access to fair and safe competitions and female-only intimate spaces, free from divisive and discriminatory ideologies.

Thank you, God bless our brave attorneys and God bless the United States of America!