Title IX, passed in 1972, prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of a person’s sex. (Today we would say gender.) This civil rights law has enabled generations’ worth of progress toward gender equity at every level of education, from early childhood education through university: any educational institution that receives federal dollars is forbidden from sex discrimination by Title IX.
Discrimination against LGBTQ+ students is a form of discrimination on the basis of sex. If you’re an educational institution that receives federal funding, and you’re excluding students from full participation because of their sex, you’re violating Title IX.
The Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education has published a proposed rule that clarifies Title IX’s protections of LGBTQ+ students, pursuant to Executive Order 14021, which President Biden issued last year. The president’s EO reverses actions by the Trump Administration to deny LGBTQ+ students the law’s protections.
The Department of Education is collecting public comment on the proposed rule through Monday, September 19. Unfortunately, the rule is currently being deluged with hate comments from bigots. Your comment can help balance out the garbage and reaffirm our nation’s support for freedom and opportunity for all.
Submit your comment directly on the Federal Register. You can use our talking points and view more information on our website.
Election time is upon us—time to get out the vote!
It’s August, which means we now have less than two months to start getting out the vote before California voters get our ballots in early October.
There are already GOTV opportunities for the last few states’ primaries and special elections around the country. We’ll soon see campaigns spinning up to reach voters for the general election. Whatever you want to write, text bank, phone bank, or canvass for, there’s definitely something for you to do, and there will be all the way through November.
We’ll continue to promote select local voter outreach events here and on our Events page. When we get closer to October, we’ll update our Vote page with information both on voter outreach actions and on how you can vote in the October–November general election.
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If you’re interested in participating in activities like drafting letters to our Members of Congress and developing our strategy for influencing them, the Indivisible SF Federal Working Group is where it happens. Our next meeting is on Thursday, Aug. 11. Details on how to register below.
ISF Federal Working Group meeting: Thursday, Aug. 11, 7:30–9 PM. Register here to join our regular Zoom meeting, where we work together to develop strategies for influencing our Members of Congress and the Biden administration to support a progressive agenda. All are welcome to participate and contribute, even if you’ve never attended an ISF meeting before.
Bay Area Coalition Phone Banks: Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Help our friends at Swing Left talk to voters about the upcoming primaries and midterms. Join Swing Left and the Bay Area Coalition on Wednesday evenings, Saturday mornings, and Sunday afternoons to make calls to voters in California and around the nation. Sign up for a shift:
- TODAY, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 5–7 PM
- Saturday, Aug. 6, 10 AM–12 PM
- Sunday, Aug. 7, 1–3 PM
Voter registration drive in the California Central Valley with Swing Left: Saturdays. Swing Left needs your help registering voters in Central Valley CD-13 and CD-22, from Modesto to Bakersfield. They will conduct door-to-door and COVID-safe canvassing to register voters every weekend until Tuesday, November 8. Sign up here:
- Saturday, Aug. 6, 9 AM–3:30 PM
- Saturday, Aug. 13, 9 AM–3:30 PM
- Saturday, Aug. 20, 9 AM–3:30 PM
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on Twitter and Facebook, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue. Today’s image is a photo of demonstrators waving Pride flags during a 2021 rally supporting LGBTQ+ students at a high school in Utah. The photo was taken by Eli Lucero for the Herald Journal via AP, and was featured in an Education Week article on Title IX.
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Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
If you'd like to support our all-volunteer team:
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