A recent poll revealed that roughly three-quarters of Americans believe that President Joe Biden's plans to federally protect transgender student-athletes through changes to the Title IX law will ultimately prove harmful to women and girls, Breitbart reported.

Though it has not done so yet, the Biden administration has proposed plans to overhaul the Title IX anti-discrimination law, including by allowing biological males who identify as transgender females to compete athletically against actual biological females.

Overwhelming majority in opposition

The McLaughlin & Associates polling firm, on behalf of Summit Ministries, surveyed 1,000 likely voters in February, with a margin of error of 3.1%, to measure the public's thoughts on the impact of transgender athletes competing in female sports.

Asked if allowing biological males who identify as female to compete against actual females was helpful or harmful to female athletes and women's sports more generally, 77% said it was "harmful" while just 23% thought it was "helpful."

A breakdown of the demographics revealed that even among Biden voters, registered Democrats, and self-identified liberals, a plurality of respondents believed the move was more harmful than helpful. In fact, not a single demographic category of voters thought the Title IX changes regarding transgender athletes would do more good than bad for women and women's sports.

Big changes to Title IX coming soon

USA Today reported in February that the Biden administration plans to move forward in May with formal rule changes to Title IX, which were first proposed in June 2022 and would fulfill a pledge that then-candidate Biden made on the 2020 campaign trail.

While there are a number of substantial changes in the proposal to the 1972 Title IX law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funds, it does not appear at this time to include anything specifically related to transgender athletes and women's sports -- though it would explicitly prohibit any sort of discrimination against transgender or non-binary students.

That said, the outlet noted that the administration confirmed that it would directly address the issue of transgender athletes and women's sports in a separate rule change at a later date.

Biden admin urged to reconsider

Not content to wait and see what is in store, Fox News reported in February that a coalition of roughly two dozen special interest groups sent a letter to President Biden's Education Sec. Miguel Cardona to urge him to reconsider any changes that would allow biological males to compete against biological females in women's sports.

"The Department does not have the legal authority to issue regulations that would subvert rather than fulfill the requirements of Title IX by permitting or requiring biological males who identify as females to compete in sex-separated women’s sports and to use the intimate facilities and shared spaces of female students," the letter stated, adding, "We anticipate that the coming rulemaking on athletics will similarly conflate gender identity with Title IX’s sex-based protections and degrade those very protections."

The outlet noted that Cardona is on record as supportive of changes to allow transgender athletes to compete against whichever gender they choose and that it was "critically important" for the rights and choices of such student-athletes to be respected by all.

Legislatively blocking Biden

Also not waiting around is House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC), according to the Washington Examiner, who announced on Monday that she had introduced two bills that addressed the topic known as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 and the Parents Bill of Rights Act.

"The Biden administration is orchestrating a radical culture shift in America’s schools that is fundamentally changing what students are exposed to in the classroom and on the field," the congresswoman said in a statement. "We’ve learned that prolonged school closures have set students back years in learning and development, yet the Left is more focused on peddling an agenda that silences parents’ voices and allows biological males to compete in women’s sports."

"By putting forth legislative measures that create a Parents Bill of Rights and protect women’s sports," she added, "Republicans are making good on our promise to establish a future that is built on freedom, where a child’s academics are put first and parents have a say in their children’s curriculum."