Federal judge blocks final Title IX rules in four more states

Brief description of the dive:

• A federal judge on Tuesday Temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s final chapter of Title IX legislation rule since coming into force in four states — Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming.
• In 14 states, the controversial rule has been suspended by court order, which together with legislative challenges creates confusion regarding the date of entry into force of the regulations, i.e. 1 August.
• In April, the U.S. Department of Education expanded Title IX regulations to include protections LGBTQI+ Students and Staff. But conservative lawmakers and critics immediately pushed back, saying such an interpretation goes beyond the purpose of the Civil Rights Act, which aims to ban sex discrimination in federally funded colleges and K-12 schools.

Diving Insight:

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge John Broomes, a Trump appointee, agreed with the plaintiffs that the Education Department’s interpretation of Title IX contradicts the law’s original purposes.

“The Department of Energy’s reinterpretation of Title IX to place gender identity on an equal footing with biological sex (and in some cases could even be placed on an equal footing with it) would undermine congressional purposes to protect biological women in education,” the Kansas judge wrote in a 47-page order.

The agency’s inclusion of LGBTQI+ rights in the regulations also constitutes an abuse of power, Broomes said.

“The DoE has essentially taken on the responsibility of providing answers to questions that have generated intense debate at both the state and federal levels in recent years,” he wrote.

The judge’s order also blocks Title IX from taking effect in schools outside four states. It affects schools attended by members of the Young America’s Foundation and children of members of Moms for Liberty, two national conservative advocacy groups and plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

On Wednesday, Young America’s Foundation began using the court order as a recruiting tool, telling potential members the decision would apply to their school if they joined the organization.

By two other ordersTitle IX final rule already blocked in 10 other states — Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Idaho, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia.