WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration’s Title IX rules expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students have been repealed nationwide after a federal judge in Kentucky found they exceeded the president’s authority.
In a ruling issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves threw out the entire 1,500-page settlement after ruling that it was “fatally” flawed in law. After a wave of legal challenges from Republican states, the regulation had already been stopped in 26 states.
President-elect Donald Trump, whose inauguration is just days away, previously promised to repeal the rules “on day one” and made anti-transgender issues a centerpiece of his campaign.
The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called it a rejection of the Biden administration’s “relentless push to impose radical gender ideology.”
“With the Biden rule fully repealed, President Trump will be free to take a fresh look at our Title IX regulations upon his return to office,” Skrmetti said in a statement.
The Ministry of Education did not initially comment on the decision.
Some civil rights groups called the ruling a step backwards. GLAAD, a leading LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said transgender and non-binary students are among the most bullied and victimized students.
“Protecting the most vulnerable students makes the entire school safer and stronger for everyone,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD.
The Biden administration sparked controversy when it finalized the modern rules last year. The order expanded Title IX, a 1972 law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, to also prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Additionally, the definition of harassment has been expanded to include a broader range of misconduct.
Civil rights advocates hailed it as a victory, saying it gave LGBTQ+ students modern options against discrimination. But it sparked outrage among conservatives who said it could be used to protect transgender athletes in girls’ sports.
The rule did not specifically address athletics and largely detailed how schools and colleges had to respond to cases of discrimination and sexual assault. A separate proposal addressing transgender athletes in sports was shelved and later withdrawn after it became a focus of Trump’s campaign.
In his decision, Reeves concluded that the Department of Education exceeded its authority by expanding the scope of Title IX.
“The 1972 Act contains no indication that it was intended to cover more than it has since its enactment by Congress,” Reeves wrote. He called it an “attempt to bypass the legislative process and completely revamp Title IX.”
The judge also concluded that free speech rights were violated by requiring teachers to operate pronouns consistent with a student’s gender identity.
“The First Amendment does not permit the government to suppress speech or to compel affirmation of a belief with which the speaker so disagrees,” Reeves wrote.
Instead of singling out specific aspects of the rule, Reeves decided that it was best to abandon the regulation in its entirety and return to a previous interpretation of Title IX. He said his decision would “simply bring about a return to the status quo” that existed more than 50 years before it came into effect.
Among the rule’s biggest critics was Betsy DeVos, former education secretary during Trump’s first term. She wrote on the social media site
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, said Biden’s rule “betrayed the original intent of Title IX by repealing longstanding protections that ensured fairness for women and girls.”
“With President Trump and a Republican majority in Congress, we will ensure that women and girls have every opportunity to succeed on the playing field and in the classroom,” Cassidy said in a statement.
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