US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has told that the Biden administration will “act” to protect the rights of transgender students banned from participating in school sports outside their biological gender in states like Florida.

Cardona told a media outlet, “I do believe in local control. I do believe in state control, but we do have a responsibility to protect the civil rights of students. And if we feel the civil rights are being violated, we will act.” 

 “I can tell you this in Florida, you know, girls are going to play girls’ sports and boys are going to play boys’ sports, that’s what we’re doing. We’re going to make sure that that’s the reality. So the bill that we’re doing today will ensure fairness for women athletes for years to come in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said this month about the bill, adding that the ban is “based off biology,” Cardona added.  Cardona implied in his interview that this type of treatment could also be something the federal targets.

Last month, the department's Office for Civil Rights filed a brief in support of Michigan State female swimmers and divers who had filed a Title IX lawsuit arguing that the elimination of their program in October 2020 was discriminatory. They appealed a neighborhood court ruling against them, and therefore the case is now pending within the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) put out a press release distancing itself from DeSantis and any bans on transgender athletes and promising to not hold events in states that enact such bans.