NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — A major Title IX crackdown is putting schools under the microscope across ten states, including New York and Connecticut.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating complaints that some districts are allowing students to compete in sports based on gender identity, rather than biological sex.<\/p>\n
Critics say the practice raises concerns about fairness and safety for some athletes.<\/p>\n
At Bellmore-Merrick Central School District, a transgender student who was male at birth tried out for an all-girls team.<\/p>\n
“Genetically, they’re built differently and girls could get injured in these sports,” one student’s father, Frank Fattizzi, said.<\/p>\n
There’s a federal investigation into this district, New York City schools and 16 other districts across the country about what’s become a hot-button issue of transgender athletes and their right to play on teams in alignment with their gender identity.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think the federal government should have any involvement in it. I think everybody has the right to be whoever they wanna be,” parent Nancy Salerno said.<\/p>\n
This district says they were just abiding by the state law.<\/p>\n
In New York, a constitutional amendment bars discrimination based on gender identity.<\/p>\n
“And so the President is violating our state laws and going against the will of the voter,” Claudia Borecky with Bellmore-Merrick Democratic Club said.<\/p>\n
The New York Civil Liberties Union added, “These groundless probes are yet another escalation in the Trump regime’s attack on the rights of transgender youth.”<\/p>\n
But President Trump has made his position very clear, stating that two sexes, male and female, are determined at birth.<\/p>\n
This latest investigation comes as the U.S. Supreme Court hears cases involving Title IX and transgender sports.<\/p>\n
“The federal government is trying to abolish the Department of Education, yet they have no problem sticking their nose where they don’t belong,” Borecky said.<\/p>\n
As for the Department of Education, their office for Civil Rights stating, they are “aggressively pursuing allegations of discrimination against women and girls by entities which reportedly allow males to compete in women’s sports.”<\/p>\n
All of this as parents and students wait to see if the U.S. Supreme Court keeps these decisions out of presidential politics and in the hands of the states.<\/p>\n
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered<\/a> <\/p>\n * Follow us on YouTube<\/a> <\/p>\n * More local news<\/a><\/p>\n * Send us a news tip<\/a><\/p>\n