The Safety and Opportunity for Girls Act of 2025 amends Title IX to define sex based on biological reproductive capacity and ensures schools can maintain sex-segregated facilities and programs without jeopardizing federal funding.
Mary Miller
Representative
IL-15
The Safety and Opportunity for Girls Act of 2025 amends Title IX to define "female" and "male" based on biological reproductive capacity. This legislation explicitly permits schools to maintain sex-segregated facilities, programs, and activities without jeopardizing their federal funding. It ensures that schools retain the authority to separate spaces based on biological sex.
Title IX Overhaul: New Bill Defines Sex by Reproductive Capacity, Blocks Federal Oversight on Segregation
The “Safety and Opportunity for Girls Act of 2025” takes direct aim at Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education. This bill is not just tweaking language; it fundamentally redefines what 'sex' means for schools receiving federal funding and explicitly limits the Department of Education’s power to enforce certain anti-discrimination rules.
The New Biology-Only Definition
Section 2 of the bill rewrites the definitions of “Female” and “Male” for Title IX purposes, tying them strictly to biological reproductive capacity. For example, “Female” is now defined as an individual who naturally has, or would have, the reproductive system capable of producing and using eggs for fertilization. The definition of “Sex” follows suit, meaning it is determined solely by this biological standard—either male or female. This is a clear move to exclude gender identity from the scope of Title IX protection, ensuring that the law addresses sex as a biological classification only.
Access to Facilities and Programs
This is where the bill hits the ground running in schools. The legislation explicitly states that nothing in Title IX can be interpreted to stop schools from maintaining sex-segregated spaces like bathrooms, locker rooms, or athletic and academic programs. Even more critically, it strips the Secretary of Education of the power to make federal funding conditional on schools abandoning these sex-segregated spaces. Think of it this way: currently, the Department of Education can use the threat of pulling funds to ensure schools comply with federal interpretations of non-discrimination, which have recently included protections for transgender students. This bill removes that leverage entirely.
Real-World Impact on Students
For a busy parent, this means that if your local school district decides to restrict all facilities—including restrooms and changing rooms—based on the biological sex recorded at birth, the federal government cannot intervene to force a more inclusive policy. For transgender students, this could mean being legally excluded from the facilities and programs that align with their gender identity, potentially forcing them into spaces where they feel unsafe or targeted. The bill essentially gives schools the legal green light to enforce strict separation based on these new biological definitions without fear of losing Title IX funding. While proponents might argue this protects privacy and fairness in women’s sports, the practical reality for transgender and non-binary students is a significant loss of access and protection in educational settings.
Who Controls the Policy?
By limiting the Secretary’s authority, the bill shifts decision-making power away from federal oversight and squarely into the hands of local school boards and state legislatures. If this bill becomes law, any school that wants to maintain strict biological sex separation in all facilities and programs—from the chemistry lab to the varsity soccer team—will be legally shielded from federal intervention under Title IX. This makes the local policy landscape, and who you elect to your school board, far more consequential for students navigating gender identity in schools.