WASHINGTON – Although the Biden administration final rule for Title IX Although the expansion of federal protections for LGBTQ students took effect nationwide on Thursday, a series of lawsuits has left more than half of all states temporarily unable to enforce the updated provisions.
According to the Ministry of Education published the final regulation in April, 26 states – all with Republican attorneys general – rushed to challenge the measure. Given the myriad legal challenges, the updated rules did not take effect until Thursday in 24 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Catherine Lhamon, deputy assistant secretary of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, welcomed the final rule at a press conference on Thursday.
Cardona said the updated regulations were “the result of a long and thorough process that included unprecedented public input from students, parents, educators, administration, experts and other stakeholders.”
“These regulations make it crystal clear that everyone has the right to a school that respects their rights and provides a safe, welcoming learning environment,” he added.
Lhamon said it is “a very volatile legal environment” and the department will continue to “defend the rule we believe in in these cases, with the Department of Justice providing us with legal counsel in court.”
“We anticipated this moment when we finalized the 2024 regulations, and we know they are legally sound,” she said, noting that the department has appealed the interim orders issued so far and asked for clarification on their application.
“While appeals of these rulings are pending, we have asked the United States Supreme Court to allow the unchallenged provisions – which make up the bulk of the final rule – to take effect in the affected states as planned,” Lhamon said.
However, the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on this urgent application, which was filed in a Couple from Submissions by the US Solicitor General Elisabeth Prelogar last week.
Protection against discrimination
The final rule “protects against discrimination based on gender stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics,” according to the DepartmentThe updated rules also aim to “restore and strengthen comprehensive protection against sexual violence and other forms of sexual harassment”.
The administration initially won a legal victory Tuesday, when a federal judge in Alabama rejected an attempt by Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to stop enforcement of the final rule. But a federal appeals court on Wednesday granted the states’ request for a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the final rule in those Southern states.
Judge Jodi W. Dishman of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma stopped the final regulation The law comes into force on Wednesday after the state sued the government personally in May.
The final rule is temporarily blocked in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Challenges affect more schools
But the challenges to Title IX go beyond the 26 states that originally sued the government – Impact on schools across the country.
Judge John Broomes of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas extended the transient closure to also “include 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.”
These groups, along with Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming, filed suit earlier this year.
Republican Party in the House of Representatives tries to stop the rule
Republicans in Congress strongly oppose the final regulation.
In July, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives a measure adopted to reverse the updated regulations under the Congressional Review Act, a procedural tool that allows Congress to overturn certain actions by federal agencies.
But the measure is unlikely to succeed in the Democratic-dominated Senate, and President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the bill if it lands on his desk.
LGBTQ students
LGBTQ advocacy groups have pushed back against Republican efforts to block the final rule from taking effect.
“Every student in this country has a right to access education without fear of bullying and discrimination,” said Brandon Wolf, national press secretary for the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, in a statement emailed to States Newsroom.
“But MAGA politicians, who promote blatant discrimination, have obtained eight injunctions blocking enforcement of the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules in 26 states.”
Wolf added, “We must continue to fight for LGBTQ+ students across the country because everyone has a right to a safe education – period.”
In the meantime, the department has yet to decide on a separate rule to establish novel criteria for transgender athletes.
