Title IX Group Pushes Trans Ideology In Schools, Watchdog Warns

A group that ostensibly works to help schools implement Title IX protections is working to circumvent federal law and push radical gender ideology in schools across the country, a watchdog group warns.

The Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) provides consulting, webinars, and certifications for its 19,000 members, who are tasked with implementing the law at schools, universities, and other organizations. But according to the American Parents Coalition, the association is less concerned with protecting women’s sports and spaces than it is with helping them implement transgender policies.

In one video sold to schools, a representative for the association suggests that schools can implement “enhanced privacy” policies so they don’t have to tell parents if their child wants to use a different name or pronouns. 

 “It’s unacceptable that supposed nonpartisan organizations posing as policy experts are weaponizing Title IX to promote radical gender ideology at the expense of girls. Even worse, they are side-stepping parental rights to do it,” American Parents Coalition Executive Director Alleigh Marré told The Daily Wire. 

This isn’t the first time the Association of Title IX Administrators has come under fire. Its members have been exposed for encouraging ways to get behind President Donald Trump’s executive orders on transgender ideology. 

“Schools can become members of ATIXA without directly involving parents or the public. This membership allows them to purchase and implement ATIXA materials,” the American Parents Coalition warns in a “Lookout” bulletin released Wednesday, noting that the organization provides a job board to its members to help place Title IX coordinators at schools. 

In its alert for parents, the American Parents Coalition highlighted a training video called “Transgender Issues Pertaining to Minors,” which Title IX coordinators can purchase for $99. The video features a discussion where a presenter says that “a key thing” for “districts to navigate” is when a child comes forward who is “not comfortable” with their parents knowing about changing their gender identity or name. 

“Many districts are choosing to have a policy to allow for enhanced privacy around those particular requests,” the consultant says. 

Other materials produced by the association include the “Gender Equity Foundations for Higher Education,” which was used featured by schools, and was featured on the website of AdventHealth University in Florida. After publication, AdventHealth University removed the ATIXA materials from its website and said that it had not used the materials for training.  

“While AdventHealth University is a member of the Association of Title IX Administrators, the school does not use the association’s materials in training and the materials are no longer available on its website,” the university told The Daily Wire.

The training uses ideologically-loaded words and phrases like “gender fluid” and “sex assigned at birth,” and says that Title IX compliance requires allowing transgender identifying students to “access facilities consistent with their gender identity/expression.”

The training also discusses “support” through legal, medical, and social “gender transitions.” 

The coalition also highlights a presentation given by activist Shane Diamond, called “Supporting and Including Transgender Students in the Classroom and Beyond,” given at the Association of Title IX Administrators annual conference in 2021. Diamond, a woman who identifies as a man, has worked with radical groups like Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. She was featured in a Title IX anniversary video celebrated by the Association of Title IX Administrators in 2022. 

Diamond’s materials, used by Loyola University in Maryland, discuss “being an ally” to transgender-identifying people and takes aim at states that have adopted laws to keep males out of female sports. 

“The school’s obligation to treat a student consistent with the student’s gender identity or expression does not require notice from the parent or guardian,” Diamond notes in her presentation materials. 

Previous reporting shows Brett Sokolow, the chair of the advisory board for the Association of Title IX Administrators, plotting in writing ways to get around the Trump administration’s crackdown on gender ideology.  

In a January email first reported on by The Daily Wire, Sokolow told a Virginia school’s Title IX coordinator that he didn’t know if her proposal to “skirt” executive action would work, but that it may be worth it to “go down fighting.” Different emails reported on by The Daily Caller also show Sokolow suggesting ways to use religious exemptions to get around Trump’s gender directives. 

“If you could establish and promulgate a LGBTQ+ church that met the standard…the courts would have to tolerate that church’s beliefs, whatever they are,” Sokolow wrote in an email. Federal records reveal that he has given thousands of dollars to Democrat political candidates, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The American Parents Coalition asked parents to check if schools in their own districts were a part of the Association of Title IX Administrators, and if so, what materials they were using. 

“ATIXA’s quiet infiltration of American education not only flouts parental rights and undermines the safety and protection of girls, but it also flies in the face of President Trump’s recent executive orders,” Marré said. “It’s long past time for ATIXA to be held accountable so that parents can be at peace knowing that school policies protect their daughters and respect their rights as parents.”

This article has been updated to include comment provided by AdventHealth University.