Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs order calling new Title IX rules 'ridiculous'

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order Thursday objecting to aspects of an updated set of rules related to Title IX — the federal law which bans sex-based discrimination at any schools that receive federal funding.

In an address before signing the order, Sanders invited Riley Gaines, a former college swimmer, to speak about an experience competing against a transgender athlete.

Sanders also threatened to bring a lawsuit if the federal government attempts to enforce the rules.

"I can't think of anything more offensive or dismissive of the very real, very scientific traits that all women share," Sanders said.

This comes just days after six states, including Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia, sued in federal court to challenge a new set rules around Title IX.

The new rules, released by the Biden administration in April and set to go into effect in the fall, expand the interpretation of harassment and discrimination to include those based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

They also include heightened requirements for responding to discrimination as well as sexual misconduct.

“The Biden administration’s rewriting of Title IX discrimination on the basis of ‘sex’ to include discrimination on the basis of ‘gender identity’ is a plainly ridiculous change,” Sanders’ order reads.

The order goes on to say that the rule changes “will lead to males unfairly competing in women’s sports; receiving access to women’s and girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms, and private spaces; and competing for women’s scholarships.”

The new rules make no explicit changes related to transgender athletes’ participation on school sports teams.

“If President Biden threatens our state with loss of educational funding, because we refuse to go along with his election-year pandering, Arkansas will take the federal government to court,” Sanders said in an address before signing the order.

The order declares that it is “the policy of this state that sex is an immutable characteristic of the human body, rooted in biology and the created order.” It also says that “students and employees of Arkansas’ educational institutions may not be forced to use false pronouns.”

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said that Title IX has promoted equal opportunities for students to learn and thrive since the 1970s.

"These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights," Cardona said in an April 19 news release.

Rachel Wegner of The Tennessean in Nashville contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders: New Title IX rules 'ridiculous'