Dear John,

Title IX is credited with advancing women and girls’ rights in education—and it did. But we have so much left to do to reach true gender equity in education.

I came to NWLC in 2018 after leaving the Trump administration’s Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights as a Title IX policy attorney. I left the Department because then Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos prioritized attacking students’ civil rights, including under Title IX. Since joining NWLC, I have been fighting DeVos’ actions. During those days, DeVos gutted Obama-era Title IX protections for student survivors, permitting schools to ignore sexual harassment and even allowing survivors to be cross-examined by their rapists’ parent or friend. And now, over three years later, it’s these horrific Trump-era rules we’re still living with today.

NWLC has been tirelessly pushing the Biden administration to release revised Title IX rules to undo DeVos’ actions and once again protect students, especially women and girls, student survivors, LGBTQIA+ students, and pregnant and parenting students from discrimination in schools—and we’re making progress. The administration has proposed changes to the Title IX rules, but they’re not yet final, and we won’t let up until those rules are finalized to actively protect the millions of students who need them.

Your support makes work like this possible, John, and right now that support can make 2x the difference. Until December 31, every gift, up to $150,000 will be matched, dollar for dollar. Make your first $5 year-end gift right now.

The administration’s failure to finalize the newTitle IX rules couldn’t come at a worse time. We are witnessing an unprecedented attempt to erase trans people and bar trans kids from playing school sports, using bathrooms, or accessing life-saving gender affirming care. And that’s on top of the heightened anti-LGBTQIA+ discrimination we’re seeing in states across the country, and a historic assault on abortion access, especially impacting pregnant students.

NWLC is working on the front lines in every one of these fights. Your matched gift will support lawyers who are fighting for gender justice in the courts, researchers whose groundbreaking work helps illuminate injustice and create policy change, and grassroots activism that presses decision makers at all levels to fight for the rights of women, people of color, and the LGBTQIA+ community.

Help power this work in the new year with your first $5 gift right now! We don’t have match opportunities like this often, so your support right now will make a huge impact.

In 2023, we’ve seen voters and communities push back against extremists trying to limit their access to health care, education, and basic civil rights. That fierce fight is at the heart of NWLC’s mission every day. We believe in a just, equitable future for ALL people, and we aren’t going to stop until we make that future a reality. Your support of the National Women’s Law Center says that you believe it too.

Thank you for all you do to fight for gender justice.

Sincerely,

Shiwali Patel
she/her/hers
Director of Justice for Student Survivors & Senior Counsel
National Women's Law Center