In November 2023, Parents Defending Education (PDE) filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Metropolitan School District of Martinsville v. A.C. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit had ruled that “sex” in Title IX doesn’t mean biological sex.
The brief argues that Congress passed Title IX so female students could have the same benefits and opportunities as male students. The law works by comparing what “one sex” receives with what “the other sex” receives, which is impossible without a clear definition. The law’s text, structure, history, and purpose all show that “sex” means the biological differences between males and females. The Seventh Circuit’s ruling split from the Eleventh Circuit, which has held that “[t]here simply is no alternative definition of ‘sex’ for transgender persons” under Title IX. Title IX requires schools to give male and female students equal opportunities, including in athletics, measured by biological sex.
Read the full brief below:
