The Supreme Court has voted 5-4 to reject the Biden administration’s request to enforce new rules under Title IX that would extend protections from discrimination to transgender students. The decision, announced on Friday (August 16), means that the federal education law known as Title IX will not enforce antidiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity in 26 conservative states where court orders have blocked these rules.
The new rules, issued in April, were set to take effect on August 1. They clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, and “pregnancy or related conditions.” This marked the first time that the law stated that discrimination based on sex includes conduct related to a person’s gender identity.
However, the rules have faced opposition. More than two dozen Republican attorneys general sued over the rule, arguing that it would conflict with some of their state laws that block transgender students from participating in women’s sports. The Biden administration insisted that the regulation does not address athletic eligibility, but critics argued that the proposal would ultimately put more biological men in women’s sports.
The Supreme Court’s decision is a setback to the Biden administration’s efforts to protect transgender inclusion. However, it is not a final ruling in the various lawsuits challenging the new Title IX rule, and the cases will now return to lower appeals courts. The matter could eventually return to the Supreme Court.
Recent Comments