WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives passed the House of Representatives Act on Thursday a measure to reverse Education Department rules aimed at expanding federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ students, though President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
Adoption of the resolution by the House of Representatives on a party-line vote, 210-205is part of a series of attacks by the Republican Party at the state and federal levels Biden Administration’s Final Title IX Rule since its April release. For all schools receiving federal funds, the rule protects against discrimination against students based on “gender stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.”
Twenty-six states with Republican attorneys general have sued for blocking the provision, and courts temporarily blocked it from taking effect in 14 states as of Aug. 1.
The 14 states under transient lockdown are: Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Mary Miller, Illinois Republican Party Representative introduced legislation in early June. A week later, the Republican-controlled House Education and Workforce Committee approved it. Miller’s resolution seeks to reverse that rule by Congressional Review Acta procedural tool that Congress can exploit to invalidate certain actions of federal agencies.
In the Senate, Mississippi Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith also introduced legislation in June to try to block the final version of the legislation using the same tool. The Senate version garnered more than 30 Republican co-sponsors.
Rep. Virginia Foxx — the chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee and a staunch opponent of the administration’s final rule — said during debate Wednesday that she wants to preserve Title IX, which has helped equalize funding for women’s sports and education programs since 1972.
“Title IX ushered in a golden era for women’s competition and education,” the North Carolina Republican said. “There’s a sacredness to the community and tradition of those memories, those spaces, those opportunities for young girls.”
Regardless of whether the effort to withdraw this bill succeeds in the Democratic-controlled Senate, BidenThe veto threat leaves virtually no chance of the bill being passed this year.
Democrats and LGBTQ advocates in opposition
Democrats and LGBTQ advocates say efforts to repeal the rule are motivated by misinformation and fear.
“Unfortunately, this bill has been clouded by misinformation, unfounded fears, and, for some, just plain hatred of transgender people,” Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said during the debate.
Oregon Rep. Suzanne Bonamici — ranking member of the House Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Committee — said the resolution was “yet another attempt to undermine this administration’s efforts to empower victims and protect all Americans from discrimination.”
“If Republicans really cared about protecting women and children, they would stop this partisan rhetoric and take action on bills that would actually protect women from discrimination and harassment, protect women’s reproductive health care, make child care more affordable, and preserve workplace opportunities for all parents, especially women,” Bonamici said.
Scott called on the House of Representatives to “reject these narratives and focus on the real issues of safety and equality.”
Final rules stalled in more states
Meanwhile, those regulations are being challenged in several federal courts.
Last week, Judge John Broomes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas temporarily blocked the measure from taking effect in the Sunflower State, as well as Alaska, Utah and Wyoming.
Broomes also stopped the rule from taking effect at “schools attended by members of Young America’s Foundation or Female Athletes United, or schools attended by children of members of Moms for Liberty,” all of the groups that sued along with four states, according to the lawsuit. order.
Under Broomes’ order, that provision was also suspended at an Oklahoma public school attended by a minor who was one of the plaintiffs.
In June, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana issued an interim injunction preventing the final rule from taking effect in those states as well as Idaho, Mississippi, and Montana.
In Kentucky federal court, Chief Judge Danny Reeves final rule temporarily blocked in the Bluegrass State, as well as in Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and Virginia. Reeves denied the department’s request to partially stay the order while his appeal is pending, according to Wednesday, court records.
The Education Department confirmed it would appeal the other two rulings, but did not receive word Wednesday whether it would file notice of appeal of the latest ruling by a federal court in Kansas.
A spokesperson reiterated earlier this week that the agency “has asked the trial courts to allow most of the final rule to go into effect in those states as scheduled on August 1 while appeals are pending.”
LGBTQ rights groups oppose Republican Party action
Allen Morris, policy director at the activist group National LGBTQ Task Force, said the vote is part of a series of anti-LGBTQ political actions.
“When we see the rise in hate, the rise in violence, the rise in young LGBTQ people not having the support they need, where suicide rates are high, it’s disappointing that our opposition is coming at us with such a high level of intent,” he said.
Morris told States Newsroom that “a lot of what’s going on with this extremism is not based in truth.”
“It’s based on ways of spreading hate and fear. It’s a lot of fear-mongering and anything that makes people feel like their backs are against the wall or like they have no power,” he said.
Reiterating a previous statement, a Department of Education spokesman said it “does not comment on pending regulations” and emphasized that all schools receiving federal funding are required to comply with the novel rules as a condition of receiving those funds.
The department has not yet developed a separate rule establishing novel criteria for transgender athletes.
