Allowing men in women's sports just became the Biden administration's official policy

The Biden administration announced Wednesday that its official stance that Title IX also applies to gender identity, signaling that keeping biological men out of women’s sports could legally be considered discrimination. 

The Department of Education released an official statement, called a notice of interpretation, stating its belief that ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County also applies to schools. Bostock was an employment law case in which the Supreme Court decided that employers could not discriminate based on an employee or applicant’s transgender status or sexual orientation. 

[RELATED: Biden admin drops support of female athletes after transgender executive order]

According to the New York Times,

”[Cardona] likened the announcement to setting down a marker for schools nationwide, alerting them that the Biden Education Department would not tolerate discrimination in schools receiving federal funds.” 

Though the announcement “will guide the Department in processing complaints and conducting investigations,” says the notice of interpretation, “it does not itself determine the outcome in any particular case or set of facts.”

Following President Biden’s day-one Executive Order on gender discrimination, the Department of Education and Department of Justice dropped their support of three female athletes who were suing their school’s athletic conference for allowing biological men to compete. 

[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Students concerned about Biden’s transgender athlete order]

Today’s announcement comes during the Department of Education’s review of existing policies relating to Title IX, including public hearings held last week. At those hearings, several female athletes told the Department that they lost out on athletic and educational opportunities because they were out-competed in their own sports by biological men. 

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @AngelaLMorabito