The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has unveiled its long-awaited overview of Title IX anti-discrimination protections. its long-awaited overview of Title IX anti-discrimination protections The new rules do not cover the hot-button issue of transgender student-athletes, but they have still been praised and criticized by LGBTQ+ and civil rights groups.
The new rules will replace many anti-transgender policies made under former president Donald Trump, and will become effective on August 1, before the upcoming school year.
The revised rules are based on the Supreme Court’s 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision, which stated that laws forbidding sex-based discrimination include sexual orientation and gender identity.
The new rules are likely to upset Republicans who have spent years pushing policies against accommodating trans students.
The Trump administration fought against the idea that laws banning discrimination “based on sex” also ban anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, especially in schools.
The DOE said the release of the new rules was delayed due to an unprecedented number of over 240,000 comments submitted during the new rules’ 30-day public response period.
The new rules do not mention trans athletes. In March, two unnamed administration sources told told The Washington Post that Biden wanted to avoid the issue during an election year, to avoid aiding Trump’s anti-transgender Republican voter base.
Nevertheless, last April, the DOE proposed a rule that would stop schools from adopting policies that exclude transgender student-athletes from sports teams matching their gender identity.
LGBTQ+ organizations celebrate but say more is needed
Lambda Legal’s Nonbinary and Transgender Rights Project Director Sasha Buchert praised the new rules, saying that the Biden administration rescinded the previous administration's sexually harassing and assaulting rule.
Buchert added that the new rule underlines that Title IX’s civil rights protections clearly cover LGBTQ+ students, as well as survivors and pregnant and parenting students across race and gender identity.
Mark Takano, a openly gay Representative from California, said that the Education Department and Biden Administration showed bravery by fulfilling a promise to protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination. He emphasized the need for further protections through the Equality Act to ensure rights aren't dependent on where people live.
The National Women’s Law Center issued a statement that both celebrated and criticized the new rules. wroteThe statement, also signed by 22 other organizations including LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, acknowledged the milestone but highlighted that the regulation doesn't make the law's protections clear for all student athletes.
The statement pointed out that 37% of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex youth live in states with laws that forbid them from participating in sports according to their gender identity.
The statement urged President Biden and his administration to provide more clarity for inclusive protections in athletics and to strongly enforce Title IX to ensure all students, including transgender, nonbinary, and intersex student athletes, benefit from the law's protections.
