More than 60 Republicans in the House of Representatives are challenging a Biden administration rule that expands federal discrimination protections for transgender students.
The Ministry of Education in April unveiled a final series of comprehensive changes on Title IX, the civil rights law that prevents sex discrimination in federally funded schools and education programs. The new rule, which is set to take effect on August 1, covers discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time, angering some on the right who say the administration’s interpretation of the decades-old law undermines existing protections for women and girls.
The administration’s revision of Title IX is also intended to strengthen discrimination protections for pregnant students and change the way schools handle allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
At least 65 Republicans in the House of Representatives signed a resolution on Wednesday rejecting the new rule, which they say contradicts the original purpose of Title IX.
“This departure is a blatant violation of the protections Title IX is designed to guarantee, and it undermines the foundation of women’s rights and safety in their private space,” said Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), who is leading the joint resolution. in a press release.
The Department of Education declined to comment on the joint resolution, saying it does not comment on pending bills.
“The Department has developed the final Title IX regulations following a rigorous process to give full effect to Title IX’s legal guarantee that no one will experience discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded education,” a Department of Education spokesman said.
Although Title IX is a federal law, each administration takes a different approach to enforcing its regulations, which schools must then comply with in order to receive federal funding. Former President Trump last month said he would turn back the Biden administration’s rule “on day one” of his presidency if he were re-elected in November.
Republican governors, attorneys general and education officials in states across the country have vowed to reject the Biden administration’s interpretation, and school districts have been ordered to ignore the law’s expanded protections for transgender students, despite the risk to state funding. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) in May threatened with legal action against the Biden administration “for any financial losses, including funding,” resulting from school districts refusing to implement the new rule.
Lawsuits filed in more than 20 Republican-led states accuse the administration of using the Title IX rule to undermine federal anti-discrimination protections for non-transgender students and of incorrectly applying the reasoning behind a 2020 Supreme Court decision protecting workers from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity to Title IX.
The complaints, most of which were filed in conservative jurisdictionsIt should be possible to prevent the new regulations from coming into force this summer, at least for the time being.
The Biden administration has yet to conclude a separate regulation Regulating eligibility for athletics. The proposal, introduced by the Department of Education last year, would prohibit schools from adopting policies that categorically exclude transgender student-athletes from sports teams that match their gender identity, with some exceptions.
Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, chairman of the Congressional Equality Caucus, sharply criticized the House Republicans’ resolution on Wednesday, calling it a “cruel continuation” of Republican-led attacks against the LGBTQ community.
“Repealing Biden’s Title IX rule will undermine the Department of Education’s ability to protect LGBTQI+, pregnant and parenting students from discrimination and support survivors of sexual violence,” Pocan said in an emailed statement to The Hill. “You expect bullies in school, but once again, Republicans in the House are swinging their weight and trying to stigmatize LGBTQI+ and other minority students by repealing these important anti-discrimination protections.”
House Republicans have introduced more than 70 censure resolutions this Congress seeking to roll back rules enacted by the Biden administration. However, only seven of them passed the House and only five were referred to President Biden, who vetoed them.
