States aren’t backing down when it comes to blocking the Biden administration’s new set of rules for Title IX.
Ten states have successfully obtained preliminary injunctions against the Biden administration’s new expansion of Title IX, and 26 attorneys general are challenging the expansion in seven lawsuits.
Title IX
Passed in 1972, Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs that receive federal funding. The new expansion of Title IX by the Biden administration extends what qualifies as discrimination based on sex to include gender identity.
Under the new regulations, schools and their staff will have to allow biological men who identify as transgender women access to women’s bathrooms, sports teams, and any “female-only” other organization. This will also apply to biological women calling themselves transgender men.
Concerns and Legality
Many people have raised concerns about harassment and women’s safety should the expansion go into effect, forcing young girls into bathrooms and locker rooms with biological males.
The Biden administration also considered including policy rules that would have forced schools to permit athletes who identify as transgender to play on the team in line with their gender identity but the policy was not included.
Some people raised concerns about women’s opportunities in academics too. The expansions would allow men who identify as women to win scholarships and other opportunities reserved for women.
The expansion of Title IX may also violate the First Amendment. It would likely require educators to use the preferred pronouns of students regardless of their moral or religious beliefs. This would force a certain type of rhetoric and discriminate against certain viewpoints.
Federal judges have also raised the question of whether the Department of Education had the power to change the definition of “sex” in Title IX to include “gender identity.”
State Responses
As of this writing, the expansion of Title IX has been blocked in 10 states.
U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty granted a preliminary injunction in Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho after he found that the new Title IX rules overstepped the Department of Education’s authority. He ruled that the department did not have the power to change the definition of “sex” to include “gender identity.” The judge used phrases like “invasion of state sovereignty,” “abuse of power,” and “threat to democracy” when describing the expansions.
U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves also granted a preliminary injunction that blocks Title IX’s expansion in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Reeves called the expansion “arbitrary in the truest sense of the word” and said that the Department of Education had overreached in its expansion of the definition of sex to include gender identity.
Both Utah and Texas have ordered state entities to ignore Title IX. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also announced that he is suing the Biden administration to block the changes.
At least 10 other states have also filed lawsuits against the Biden administration, and 68 House Republicans introduced a bill this week to reverse the new regulations. Former President Donald Trump stated that he would undo the new regulations on “day one” if he is elected.
The Title IX expansion is set to go into effect on Aug. 1, 2024.
