This seemingly innocuous proposal has sparked a firestorm.

First, a brief background.

Title IX prohibits discrimination "on the basis of sex" in federally funded programs. It was passed in 1972 as part of the Education Amendments Act to ensure that women have access to educational programs equivalent to men's programs.

In 2016, the Obama administration issued a guidance letter reinterpreting "sex" to include sexual orientation and gender identity. The letter required schools to "'treat a student's gender identity as the student's sex for purposes of Title IX." This drastic reinterpretation was done without an act of Congress or even the normal rule-making process for regulations. It was clearly an act of bureaucratic overreach.