WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a measure to repeal an Education Department rule that would expand federal discrimination protections for LGBTQ students, but President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the bill if it lands on his desk.
Adoption of the resolution by the House of Representatives, 210-205is part of a wave of GOP resistance at the state and federal level against the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX since its publication in April. For all schools that receive federal funds, the regulation protects against discrimination against students based on “gender stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.”
26 states with GOP attorneys general have sued to block The courts temporarily blocked the rule, preventing it from coming into effect on August 1 in 14 states.
The 14 states with momentary lockdowns are: Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Mary Miller, Republican Representative from Illinois introduced the legislation in early June. A week later, the Republican-controlled House Committee on Education and Workforce approved the bill. Miller’s resolution aims to replace the rule with the Congressional Review Acta procedural tool that allows Congress to overturn certain actions by federal agencies.
In the Senate, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith from Mississippi also introduced laws in June to try to block the final rule using the same tool. The Senate version has garnered over 30 Republican co-signatories.
Representative Virginia Foxx, chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee and a staunch opponent of the administration’s final rule, said during debate Wednesday that she wants to keep Title IX, which has helped equalize funding for sports and education programs for women since 1972.
“Title IX ushered in a golden age for women’s competition and education,” said the North Carolina Republican. “These memories, these places and these opportunities for young girls are sacred in the community and tradition.”
Regardless of whether the attempt to repeal the measure is successful in the Democratic-controlled Senate, BidenBecause of the veto threat, there is virtually no chance that the bill will be passed this year.
Democrats and LGBTQ activists in the opposition
Democrats and LGBTQ activists have described efforts to repeal the rule as motivated by misinformation and fear.
“Unfortunately, this resolution is marred by misinformation, unfounded fears and, for some, outright hatred toward transgender people,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, a Democrat from Virginia and ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, during the debate.
Suzanne Bonamici, a representative from Oregon and ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, said the resolution was “yet another attempt to undermine the administration’s efforts to empower survivors and protect all Americans from discrimination.”
“If Republicans really cared about protecting women and children, they would stop using this biased rhetoric and pass laws that actually protect women from discrimination and harassment, defend women’s reproductive health care, make child care more affordable, and preserve workplace opportunities for all parents, especially women,” Bonamici said.
Scott called on the House of Representatives to “reject these narratives and focus on real issues of security and justice.”
Final regulation blocked in other states
Challenges to this regulation are now being heard in several federal courts.
Last week, Judge John Broomes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas temporarily blocked implementation of the measure in the Sunflower State, as well as in Alaska, Utah and Wyoming.
Broomes also blocked the rule from taking effect in “the schools attended by members of Young America’s Foundation or Female Athletes United, as well as the schools attended by the children of members of Moms for Liberty,” all groups that sued alongside the four states, according to the command.
Broomes’ order also repeals that rule in an Oklahoma public school attended by a minor plaintiff.
In June, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana ruled issue an interim injunction This prevents the final regulation from coming into force there, in Idaho, Mississippi and Montana.
In federal court in Kentucky, Chief Judge Danny Reeves said: the final regulation is temporarily blocked in the Bluegrass State, as well as Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and Virginia. Reeves denied the department’s request for a partial stay of the injunction while the appeal is being heard, according to a Court hearing on Wednesday.
The Department of Education confirmed that it has appealed the other two rulings, but did not provide an update Wednesday on whether it will appeal the latest ruling from the federal court in Kansas.
The spokesperson reiterated earlier this week that the agency had “asked the courts to allow the bulk of the final rule to take effect in those states as planned on August 1, while appeals are pending.”
LGBTQ advocacy groups fight back against Republican efforts
Allen Morris, policy director for the advocacy group National LGBTQ Task Force, said the vote was part of a series of anti-LGBTQ policies.
“When you see the rise in hatred and violence and the increasing number of young LGBTQ people who are not getting the support they need and where suicide rates are high, it is disappointing to see our opponents coming against us with such determination,” he said.
Morris told States Newsroom that “much of what is happening with this extremism is not based in any truth.”
“It’s based on stirring up hatred and fear. It’s about scaremongering and everything to make people feel like they have their backs against the wall or that they have no power,” he said.
A spokesman for the Department of Education reiterated an earlier statement, saying they do not comment on “pending bills” and stressed that all schools receiving federal funds are required to comply with the fresh rules in order to receive those funds.
The department must still issue a separate rule establishing fresh criteria for transgender athletes.
