Whitefish rally takes aim at Biden’s Title IX revisions

Former NCAA All-American swimmer Riley Gaines headlined a rally in Whitefish on Monday blasting looming changes to federal regulations that prohibit sex-based discrimination at public schools.

Gaines and other former collegiate athletes and coaches who spoke at the Take Back Title IX event scolded the Biden administration for its plans to revise the landmark sex discrimination law to extend protections to LGBTQ+ students.

The changes, set to go into effect Aug. 1, clarify that the federal law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Montana is among two dozen Republican-led states challenging the revised law as unconstitutional.

While the updated law does not specifically mention transgender athletes, speakers at the rally contend it could open the door to transgender athletes participating in sports that align with their identity.

Gaines, who also hosts a national sports podcast, has gained notoriety for her public comments against transgender women athletes competing in women's sports. In the 2022 NCAA swimming championships, Gaines tied with openly transgender swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200 freestyle event. That outcome prompted her to advocate for so-called fairness in sports laws.

At the Whitefish rally, Gaines painted Biden's Title IX revisions as unlawful and said they would diminish the original purpose to protect women's rights. 

"It has equated sex with gender identity," she told the crowd of a few hundred gathered at Montana Longhorn Ranch. "It says they're the same thing."

Aside from fairness in competition, Gaines listed some of the potential implications of the Title IX revision as transgender students taking scholarships from female students, and transgender women having access to women's locker rooms or dorm rooms.

"The bigger picture here is that we are denying objective truth," Gaines said. "That truth being man and woman — the sheer essence of humanity."

Former collegiate volleyball player Adriana McLamb described the Take Back Title IX tour as "pro-girls, pro-fairness, pro-equality."

"Privacy and safety is not anti-trans or anti-anyone," she said.

The Whitefish event, sponsored by the Virginia-based nonprofit Independent Women’s Forum, also featured former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who introduced the Protect Women’s Sports Act as a congresswoman. The rally was one of 13 tour stops across the nation.

Lakeside resident Laura Park said the speakers motivated her to be more outspoken on the issue. 

"It's crazy we have to be afraid," she said about expressing her views on transgender athletes competing in women's sports.

Rally attendee and Whitefish resident Michelle Botner described herself as a product of the original Title IX law, as a former swimmer for the University of South Dakota.

"Now those benefits are being taken away," she said.

In April, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics approved a ban on transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, becoming the first collegiate division to take such measures. The new rule says all athletes may participate in male sports, but only athletes whose biological sex at birth is female may participate in female sports.

That model appeals to Botner.

“All you need is two categories: women's and everything else,” she said.

“We don't care what you identify as, but for a male that's gone through puberty, you have distinct [physical] advantages," she added.

According to a 2023 Gallup poll, a majority of Americans (69%) believe that transgender athletes should only be allowed to compete on teams that match their gender at birth.

Montana lawmakers attempted to ban transgender women from participating on women’s athletic teams during the 2021 session, but the state Supreme Court earlier this year ruled the law was unconstitutional.

People sign a tour bus at the Take Back Title IX rally in Whitefish on Monday, June 10, 2024. (Matt Baldwin/Daily Inter Lake)

People attend the Take Back Title IX rally in Whitefish on Monday, June 10, 2024. (Matt Baldwin/Daily Inter Lake)