Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs executive order opposing Biden administration Title IX changes

LITTLE ROCK, Ark – Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued an executive order Thursday that she said was designed to protect female Arkansas athletes against what she called unfair competition.

The order signed by Sanders reinstates the state’s opposition to trans athletes in women’s sports and comes in reaction to changes made to the U.S. Department of Education’s Title IX rule.

Title IX is designed to prevent discrimination in sports and is often used to support equity in women’s athletics alongside men’s sports. The changes set to go into effect Aug. 1 would create protections based on gender identity and expand the definition of sexual assaults in K-12 schools and colleges.

The gender identity issue was at the center of Sander’s concern.

“It’s a document that should scare every woman and every man in America,” Sanders said, adding that it is an effort by the Biden administration “to erase women completely.”

“My message to Joe Biden and the federal government means we will not comply,” the governor said.

The executive order reinforces Arkansas laws, including the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act and the Given Name Act, that discourage gender identity changes past those assigned at birth.

Sanders was joined by Sec. of Education Jacob Oliva and Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer who has been active in keeping trans women out of women’s sports.

Gaines shared her story of competing against a trans athlete, including being forced to share a locker room with the athlete, who was “fully intact and fully exposed.”

Gaines called the Title IX changes “Orwellian” as they would “force schools to replace women.”

Sanders has issued nearly 30 executive orders since taking office in January of 2023. Previous EOs have covered issues ranging from emergency response tied to the March 31, 2023, tornado outbreak, maternal mortality rates, foster care, human trafficking and repealing COVID-19 executive orders.

The governor has also used executive orders to enact a number of politically conservative policy initiatives in the state.

Some of those EOs have focused on prohibiting the teaching of critical race theory and other topics the state determines as “indoctrination,” limiting “government overreach” and eliminating from state documents “woke, anti-women words.”

Arkansas ACLU spokesperson Megan Bailey described the new executive order as part of Sanders’ “endless attacks on LGBTQ people in our state” and added that it stands in “stark defiance” of laws protecting against discrimination.

“This latest action is part of a disturbing pattern of behavior from Gov. Sanders, who seems more invested in divisive politics and fueling culture wars than addressing the urgent needs of Arkansans,” Bailey said. “This pattern of hostility and neglect must end. We call on Gov. Sanders to cease these draconian measures and redirect her focus towards improving the lives of all Arkansans. True leaders foster unity and address the actual needs of our people, not divide, bully, and exclude.”

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