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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a Title IX complaint against Westford Public Schools (WPS) in Massachusetts, urging the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate WPS for adopting policies that allow boys to freely use the girls bathrooms and locker rooms and discriminate based on sex in clear violation of U.S. law.
At the center of this case is a simple truth: Title IX protects students from discrimination on the basis of biological sex—nothing more, nothing less. Westford Public Schools, however, has abandoned that clear mandate. Its policy on “Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students” allows students to use restrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex while forcing other students who object to leave, effectively punishing them for holding commonsense beliefs on biological reality. WPS is not being inclusive—it is openly discriminating against students who do not fit within the confines of its radical gender ideology.
Title IX’s text, structure, and history are unambiguous: schools must maintain sex-based protections in their education programs and activities to receive federal funding. Courts have repeatedly held that “sex” means biological sex, not self-declared “gender identity.” The Biden Administration’s 2024 rule attempting to redefine “sex” was permanently enjoined by multiple federal courts. In addition, President Trump’s Executive Order 14168 restored lawful Title IX enforcement, reaffirming that “sex” is not a synonym for and does not include the concept of “gender identity.”
Despite these rulings and President Trump’s executive order, Westford Public Schools has continued to enforce policies that erase biological distinctions and treat students unequally based on ideology. By prioritizing ideology over federal law, the district has created a system that protects some students at the expense of others—exactly what Title IX was written to prevent.
“Westford Public Schools’ ‘gender identity’ policy is a lawless betrayal of both parents and students,” said Ian Prior, Senior Counsel for America First Legal. “Title IX protects students from discrimination based on biological sex—period. But Westford has twisted that protection into a weapon of ideology, forcing children to surrender their privacy and safety to appease a political agenda. No school has the right to erase biological reality or punish students for believing in truth. The law, the Constitution, and President Trump’s executive order all make clear that sex is not a feeling: it is a fact. If federal courts, Congress, and the President can all understand that, Westford Public Schools should, too. It just chooses otherwise.”
America First Legal will continue defending parents and students across the country against unlawful attempts to subvert Title IX and dismantle equal protection under the rule of law.
Read the full complaint here.
Read more about AFL’s work defending Title IX here.
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