New Title IX Laws Blocked in 21 States

The Education Department will not be able to enforce new Title IX rules set to go into effect nationwide on Aug. 1 in Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska and South Dakota, a federal judge ruled Wednesday night.

Judge Rodney Sippel of the Eastern District of Missouri found that the states have a “good chance of prevailing” in arguing that the new rules, which strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ students, exceed the department’s authority and violate the First Amendment.

Title IX is temporarily blocked in 21 states as well as hundreds of colleges nationwide after Sippel’s ruling. The Education Department is continuing to enforce the new rule in states and on campuses where it has not been banned, even though another federal judge suggested last week that the agency delay the rule’s effective date.

The new Title IX regulations clarify that sex discrimination prohibited by federal law also includes discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The states argued that this change undermines the original intent of Title IX. Sippel stated that “the unambiguous, plain language of Title IX and the legislative history support their position that the term ‘sex’ means biological sex,” reaching a similar conclusion as other district judges who issued the injunctions.