A federal judge blocked fresh Title IX regulations, including those aimed at protecting LGBTQ+ students from discrimination in K-12 schools, and sided with GOP attorneys general in several states — including Ohio.
Chief Judge Danny Reeves of the U.S. District Court in Eastern Kentucky issued a ruling Monday that sided with Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman and his counterparts in five other states. The ruling prevents the U.S. Department of Education from “implementing, enforcing, enforcing, or taking any action to enforce the final rule prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance,” which was scheduled to begin in August. 1.
Coleman and the GOP attorney general filed a lawsuit in April. They argued at the time that the Department of Education had “used its rule-making power to transform a law intended to equalize opportunities between the sexes into a much broader, self-developed system” under the fresh Title IX regulations.
Reeves narrow the order to the plaintiff states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Biden administration has introduced the policies to “build on the legacy of Title IX by making clear that all students in our nation have access to schools that are safe, welcoming and respectful of their rights,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. The legislation would also reverse changes made by the Trump administration narrowly understood sexual harassment and directed schools to hold live hearings, allowing people accused of sexual harassment or assault to question their accusers.
In his complaint, the state’s attorney general said that under Biden, “Men who identify as women will, among other things, have the right to compete in programs and activities made available to women by Congress so that they may fairly and fully pursue academic and athletic excellence – turning Title IX protections upside down. … And anyone who expresses opposition to this fresh status quo runs the risk of discipline under Title IX for prohibited harassment.”
Founded in 1972, Title IX according to the Department of Education, it was created to prevent “sex discrimination in educational programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.”
Reeves wrote in his opinion that “the Department of Education is seeking to derail a deeply entrenched law” created by the implementation of Title IX.
“In essence, the Department would turn Title IX on its head by redefining “sex” to include “gender identity.” But ‘sex’ and ‘gender identity’ do not mean the same thing,” he wrote. “The Department’s interpretation is inconsistent with the plain language of Title IX and therefore exceeds its authority to promulgate regulations under that statute.”
