In a powerful and unrepentant Sunday, June 23 post on X about the matter, famous college football coach Lou Holtz sounded off on the idea of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports competitions, saying that it is unfair to the female athletes in those competitions and that, though he was a supporter of Title IX, he is against the current state of things.
As background, Title IX, which came out in 1972, prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in those organizations, such as schools, that receive federal funds. “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” it provides.
The Biden Administration then expanded Title IX to gender identity. Describing the revision, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said, “For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in our nation’s schools free from sex discrimination.” He continued, “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.”
Holtz, in any case, took to X to express his displeasure with the current state of women’s sports, much in contrast to his original support of Title IX when it came out and helped extend more athletic opportunities to women. He wrote, “I was happy when Title IX came out. But here we are, many years later, and now we can’t even ensure women competing against women. It’s crazy!”
While some commenters disagreed with him, others chimed in with their support. One, for example, wrote, “Your absolutely right coach Holtz. It’s madness when a young lady trains all her life and her dream is wrecked by a male who can’t compete with his own gender. This needs to stop now!! God Bless you coach Holtz for speaking out. 🙏🙏”
Others said things like “Thank you Coach! More people need to say what they KNOW to be true and start publicly condemning the rewriting of Title IX!” and “Coach is out here bodying the libs. This isn’t a controversial opinion at all. Women should only compete against women in sports.”
This isn’t the first time that Holtz has taken a position on the opposite of the left. Speaking after Butker’s controversial speech on gender roles, Holtz thanked Butker for “standing strong in your faith values.” He wrote on X, “Your commencement speech at Benedictine College showed courage and conviction and I admire that. Don’t give in.” In his message, he included a link to America First Works, where he said, “Sign here to thank Super Bowl Champion Harrison Butker, a true man of God.”
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