Judge scraps Biden's Title IX rules, reversing expansion of protections for LGBTQ+ students
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The Biden administration’s Title IX rules expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students have been struck down nationwide after a federal judge in Kentucky found they overstepped the president’s authority. In a decision issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves scrapped the entire 1,500-page regulation after deciding it was “fatally” tainted by legal shortcomings. The rule had already been halted in 26 states after a wave of legal challenges by Republican states.
President-elect Donald Trump previously promised to end the rules “on day one” and made anti-transgender themes a centerpiece of his campaign. The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
In a statement, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti called it a “victory for the protection of girls’ privacy in locker rooms and showers, and for the freedom to speak biologically-accurate pronouns.”. The Education Department did not immediately comment on the decision.
The Biden administration ignited controversy when it finalized the new rules last year. The regulation expanded Title IX, a 1972 law forbidding discrimination based on sex in education, to also prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. It also expanded the definition of harassment to include a broader range of misconduct.
