PRESS RELEASE: Defense of Freedom Institute Applauds President Trump’s Executive Order on Gender Ideology, Releases Model Title IX Regulatory Code to Aid in Implementing Crucial Reforms

WASHINGTON—The Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI) released today a comprehensive Model Title IX Regulatory Code designed to support President Trump’s landmark executive order, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. This bold action affirms the original purpose of Title IX and ensures fairness, safety, and opportunity for women and girls in education.

“President Trump’s executive order is a critical step in restoring federal policy to an interpretation of Title IX grounded in common sense, biological fact, and the law,” said Bob Eitel, President and Co-Founder of the Defense of Freedom Institute. “In the wake of the Biden administration’s damaging approach to Title IX, there is still more work to be done. DFI’s Model Title IX Regulatory Code defines ‘sex’ under Title IX and prohibits sex-based discrimination and sexual harassment while upholding fundamental due process protections, the First Amendment, and parents’ rights.”

Grounded in the text, structure, and purpose of Title IX and applicable case law, DFI’s model regulations, which would apply to federally funded schools, colleges, and universities in every state, define “sex” as male or female, biological and binary. Unlike the radical changes introduced by the Biden administration in 2024, which expanded Title IX’s scope to include gender identity provisions that undermined equal opportunities and privacy protections for women and girls, DFI’s model regulations recognize that forcing educational institutions to require students of one sex to share housing or intimate spaces with students of the other sex violates Title IX’s nondiscrimination guarantee. 

Key Provisions of the DFI Model Title IX Regulatory Code:

• Recognizing Sex as Biological: Defines sex and related terms such as “mother” and “father” as binary, biological classifications at birth, rejecting subjective gender identity concepts.
• Ensuring Privacy and Safety: Guarantees privacy in bathrooms, locker rooms, and dormitories based on binary, biological sex.
• Strengthening Equal Athletic Opportunities: Prioritizes fairness in women’s sports by maintaining sex-separated categories and explicitly allowing additional sex-separated contact sports, such as field hockey, volleyball, lacrosse, and martial arts.
• Mandating Due Process: Requires due process protections for students and employees accused of sexual harassment—including by banning the infamous single-investigator model—and extends these protections to all formal complaints of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct.
• Protecting Free Speech: Prohibits overreaching speech codes on campus that subvert the First Amendment, in favor of a definition of sexual harassment rooted in Supreme Court case law.  
• Affirming Parental Rights: Affirms the constitutional right of parents to raise their children and direct their children’s education.
• Aiding Faith-Based Institutions: Provides clear, strengthened protections for faith-based institutions seeking exemptions from Title IX mandates.
• Requiring Transparency and Accountability: Requires recipients of federal funding to post for the public their Title IX training materials, ensuring transparency and accountability in enforcement.

To access the Model Title IX Regulatory Code, click here. 

The Defense of Freedom Institute is committed to policies that restore Title IX to its original purpose.