Rep. Barbara Ehardt travels country on ‘Take Back Title IX Tour,’ promoting women’s-only athletics and private spaces

Image: Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, and Kim Russell stopped connected nan ‘Take Back Title IX’ circuit astatine Apple Athletic Club Tuesday. | David Pace, EastIdahoNews.com. Video: Former NCAA Division I coaches Barbara Ehardt and Trent Shippen speak connected nan ‘Take Back Title IX’ tour. | Courtesy Take Back Title IX tour

IDAHO FALLS — The “Take Back Title IX Tour,” a nationwide effort to push backmost against caller Biden Administration regularisation changes permitting transgender athletes to participate successful women’s sports, stopped successful Idaho Falls Tuesday morning.

Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, an ambassador and speaker connected nan Take Back Title IX campaign, led guests successful signing a circuit autobus covered pinch slogans specified arsenic “Our bodies, our sports,” “She’s gone excessively acold to beryllium erased,” and “Equality is not a game.”

“Now we are battling nan complete erasure of girls and women, not conscionable successful sports, but successful each of our different backstage activity spaces, specified arsenic bathrooms, locker rooms and prisons,” she said successful a connection to EastIdahoNews.com. “The Biden Administration has taken upon itself to rewrite nan ‘37 words’ that defined Title IX successful 1972 and created 1500 pages of punishments that will beryllium administered against anyone who dares to defy this administration’s decree.”

The Title IX regulation, which is approaching its 52nd day later this month, primitively stated, “No personification successful nan United States shall, connected nan ground of sex, beryllium excluded from information in, beryllium denied nan benefits of, aliases beryllium subjected to favoritism nether immoderate acquisition programme aliases activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

On April 19, nan U.S. Department of Education released updated Title IX regulations, “prohibiting favoritism based connected activity stereotypes, intersexual orientation, gender personality and activity characteristics.”

The tour, which started successful Scranton, Pennsylvania, held rallies successful White Fish, Montana, connected Monday, a luncheon pinch legislators successful Salt Lake City connected Tuesday and a rally successful Las Vegas connected Wednesday.

As a erstwhile Division 1 NCAA coach and existent legislator, Ehardt co-sponsored nan Fairness successful Women’s Sports Act successful 2020, making Idaho nan first authorities to require student athletes to compete connected teams that correspond pinch their biologic sex.

RELATED | Little signs GOP’s anti-transgender bills, mounting up apt ineligible challenges

Ehardt and others motion nan autobus connected Tuesday astatine Apple Athletic Club. | Courtesy Take Back Title IX tour

Versions of nan Fairness successful Women’s Sports Act measure person since been adopted by 25 different states, Ehardt said.

She is joined connected nan circuit by salient athletes, politicians and coaches – including Riley Gaines, a 12-time All-American swimmer and five-time SEC champion; erstwhile Democratic statesmanlike campaigner Tulsi Gabbard and Martina Navratilova, victor of 18 Grand Slam titles successful tennis singles.

Gaines mislaid retired connected a NCAA Swimming Championships trophy aft tying pinch a transgender individual, Lia Thomas, successful nan 200-yard freestyle successful March 2022.

“We were blindsided,” Gaines writes connected her website. “There was a caller swimmer, Lia Thomas, who swooped successful retired of obscurity and collapsed grounds aft record. It didn’t return agelong for america to recognize that Lia Thomas was formerly Will Thomas. He swam for 3 years connected nan men’s squad astatine University of Pennsylvania wherever he was mediocre astatine best, earlier switching to nan women’s squad his elder year. We spent our full lives training to beryllium nan champion successful women’s sports, conscionable to person to compete against a man – and beryllium told to observe it.”

“We tied,” Gaines continued. “And yet nan NCAA officials told maine that nan trophy belonged to Thomas. The officials claimed this was basal for nationalist relations. I was shocked. I felt betrayed and belittled, reduced to a photo-op. But my feelings did not matter. What mattered to nan NCAA were nan feelings of a biologic male.”

The incident besides group disconnected a fierce statement connected gender identity, state of reside and look successful nan NCAA.

RELATED | Hundreds of athletes inquire NCAA to forbid Idaho from hosting sports events successful consequence to transgender jock legislation

“Although nan NCAA claimed it acted successful nan sanction of ‘inclusion,’ its policies, successful fact, excluded female athletes,” Gaines wrote.

Coach Kim Russell shared her acquisition Tuesday astatine Apple Athletic Club. Russell was fired arsenic nan Oberlin College lacrosse caput coach aft speaking retired against transgender individuals’ information successful women’s sports.

Following Lia Thomas’s triumph arsenic nan first transgender jock to triumph a NCAA title connected March 20, 2022, Russell posted connected her Instagram story, “Congratulations to Emma Weyant, nan existent victor of nan 500-yard freestyle.”

“… (At) nan apical of that post, I said, ‘What do you believe? I can’t beryllium quiet anymore. I’ve spent my full life playing, coaching and starting sports programs for girls and women,” Russell said.

In “Burned astatine nan Stake,” a documentary astir Russell’s story, she relates, “I was blown distant that a antheral was being allowed to compete pinch women successful NCAA swimming.”

“I’ve been a coach for 28 years and a assemblage coach for 11, and I was called successful and told that I was now being called a personnel of a dislike group,” Russell said connected Tuesday. “I was told by different administrator that it’s okay for maine to person my ain opinions, but erstwhile those spell against that of nan college, it could beryllium a problem for my employment. I was past taxable to a number of, oh, crazy Marxist-type of meetings, a Maoist struggle session, and past erstwhile I went nationalist pinch my communicative a twelvemonth later, I was removed from my coaching position.”

Since that time, Russell has served arsenic an ambassador for nan Independent Women’s Forum, a women’s defense group. The group is 1 of a twelve organizations — including nan Independent Council connected Women’s Sports, Women’s Liberation Front, Women’s Sport Policy Working Group, nan International Consortium connected Female Sport, Young Women for America and Concerned Women for America — helping to sponsor nan tour.

“I’ve been honored to beryllium associated pinch each these awesome ladies and these awesome organizations who shape this conjugation that initially began successful 2020 aft nan ‘Fairness successful Women’s Sports (Act)’ was passed,” Ehardt wrote. “We needed this conjugation to conflict nan ACLU and their allies. But our conjugation has grown, nan group involved, specified arsenic Riley Gaines and Tulsi Gabbard, has grown.”

The contention complete transgender’s entree to women’s sports and backstage spaces continues to grow.

According to nan Independent Women’s Voice, biologic males presently “have (won much than) 913 trophies, medals and titles successful 441 different women’s and girls competitions and complete 30 different sports.”

The circuit will proceed crossed nan United States, culminating pinch a ceremony of nan 52nd day of Title IX successful Washington D.C. connected June 25. You tin study much astatine ourbodiesoursports.com.

“This is why I fight,” Ehardt wrote. “The early of women, really we are defined, what spaces and opportunities are ours, will beryllium mislaid if we don’t guidelines together and request that women beryllium treated pinch nan respect and accepted personality that has ever been ours.”

The ‘Take Back Title IX’ autobus travels connected to Salt Lake City and Las Vegas aft stopping successful Idaho Falls Tuesday morning.