JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has joined several other states in a lawsuit against the Biden administration over proposed changes to Title IX regulations.

Bailey filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on behalf of six state attorneys general and an Arkansas high school athlete.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Title IX rule was introduced in 1972 to prevent discrimination in educational activities, including sports. It is meant to support equity in women’s and men’s sports.

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The Biden administration’s proposed changes to Title IX are set to take effect on August 1 and would expand protections based on gender identity.

According to the Associated Press, the Biden administration previously sought to include a policy that would outright ban transgender athletes. The U.S. Department of Education doesn’t address this within the rules but states, “The Department’s rulemaking process is still ongoing for a Title IX regulation related to athletics.”

Bailey contends that the proposed changes to emphasize gender identity would “gut the very athletic opportunities that Title IX was designed to provide,” according to the lawsuit. He also argues that the rule changes are an attack on the equal rights of girls and women.

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“I’m filing suit because I will not allow federal bureaucrats to subject Missouri girls to unsafe conditions in order to push a radical transgender ideology,” Bailey said via a news release.

Bailey also claims that the Biden administration has “threatened to hold federal funding hostage from any institution” that does not follow new rules.

The lawsuit asks the Supreme Court to halt changes set to take effect in August and rule these changes to be unlawful.

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