The Biden administration has once again suggested that it will take action against the growing number of states seeking to ban trans students from participating in school sports in alignment with their gender. But in a recent interview, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona stopped short of naming what exactly that action might be.
Cardona told ESPN on Monday that he believes educational decisions should be made at the local level but maintained that the federal government has “a responsibility to protect the civil rights of students.”
“LGBTQ students have endured more harassment than most other groups,” Cardona told the sports news network, while wearing an inclusive LGBTQ+ pride flag on his lapel. “It’s critically important that we stand with them and give them opportunities to engage in what every other child can engage in without harassment. And if we feel the civil rights are being violated, we will act.”
But as with his February confirmation hearing, Cardona stopped short of offering an opinion on whether or not trans girls should be allowed to compete alongside cisgender female athletes. Sidestepping, he said that he recognized the “concern around that issue” and stressed the general importance of sports participation.
“We know that it provides opportunities for students to become a part of a team, to learn a lot about themselves, to set goals and reach them and to challenge themselves,” he said. “Athletics provides that in our K-12 systems and in our colleges, and all students deserve an opportunity to engage in that.”
Cardona also did not comment on whether the Biden administration would join lawsuits filed by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Human Rights Campaign (HRC), and Lambda Legal to fight for trans inclusion in sports. In 2021, more than two dozen states have filed legislation seeking to prevent trans athletes from competing in accordance with their gender, and currently, 7 of those bills have been signed into law.
The Education Secretary was also noncommittal when pressed on whether or not the Department of Education would go to court to ensure general gender equity in collegiate sports, both for cisgender and trans women. Legal action is “our last resort,” Cardona said.
“If it’s something that’s not making adequate progress, it is our responsibility to act, and maybe legal action is one of those strategies,” he continued.
If Cardona is tiptoeing around the subject of trans sports access, it’s the same dance the Biden administration has been doing for months. In May, The Daily Beast reported that the Biden administration was working behind the scenes to challenge laws targeting trans athletes in states like Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi. A source within the Department of Justice (DOJ) told the publication that the White House would “fully enforce our civil rights statutes to protect transgender individuals.”
But the specifics of that effort have been unclear. While the Biden administration has reiterated its support for trans students under attack on numerous occasions, it has offered no specifics regarding a possible legal challenge — or whether it is even planning one. HRC President Alphonso David told the Beast last month that the LGBTQ+ advocacy group was “having conversations” with the White House on the subject.
When President Joe Biden shouted out transgender kids in a May speech to Congress,
10-year-old trans activist Kai Shappley questioned what exactly “having [her] back” meant. “Like, if the bills pass in Texas, will you keep them from putting my mom in jail?” she asked in a tweet.
Of the 2021’s record onslaught of anti-trans bills, Texas’ bills represent some of the worst iterations of that effort. One proposal, Senate Bill 1646, would have branded parents as “child abusers” for allowing their children to transition. While that legislation stalled, Texas’ Republican governor, Greg Abbott, has called for a special session to force through a trans sports ban. One of those bills — or both — could potentially pass.
The ACLU has already signaled that Texas would be met with immediate legal action for discriminating against trans youth, but advocates hope to see Biden put his weight behind them. Kai’s mother, Kimberly Shappley, called on the White House to “step up and prevent [her] home from being ripped apart” in an op-ed for them.
“My family is tired of fighting,” she wrote. “We need people to fight for us, to keep children like Kai from being displaced any time their state decides to take away their ability to have families and communities that support them. We need all the heroes we can get right now, and we particularly need them in the White House.”
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