Much-attacked Title IX final rule goes into effect even though it’s still blocked in 26 states • Ohio Capital Journal

WASHINGTON — Although the Biden administration’s final Title IX rule expanding federal protections for LGBTQ students went into effect nationwide Thursday, a series of legal challenges has temporarily blocked more than half of all states from enforcing the updated rules, including Ohio.

After the Education Department released the final rules in April, 26 states — all with GOP attorneys general — rushed to challenge the law. Given the myriad legal challenges, the updated rules didn’t go into effect until Thursday in 24 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education, celebrated the final passage of the legislation during a briefing on Thursday.

Cardona said the updated regulations “represent the culmination of a long and thorough process that included unprecedented public participation from students, parents, teachers, administrators, experts and other stakeholders.”

“These regulations make it clear that everyone has the right to schools that respect their rights and offer a safe, friendly learning environment,” he added.

Lhamon said it is a “very fluid legal environment” and the department continues to “defend the principles that we believe in in these cases, and the Department of Justice serves as our attorney in the courts.”

“We anticipated this moment when we finalized the 2024 regulations, and we know they are legally sound,” she said, noting that the department had appealed the orders issued to date and sought clarification on their application.

“While appeals of these rulings are pending, we have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the unchallenged provisions — which constitute the bulk of the final rule — to go into effect in the affected states as planned,” Lhamon said.

But the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the emergency request, which was filed last week in two filings from U.S. Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar.

Protection against discrimination

The final rule “protects against discrimination based on gender stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics,” according to the department. The updated regulations also aim to “restore and strengthen comprehensive protections against sexual violence and other forms of sexual harassment.”

The administration initially won a legal victory Tuesday when an Alabama federal judge rejected an attempt by Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to halt enforcement of the final rule. But a federal appeals court on Wednesday granted the states’ request for an administrative injunction that would temporarily block the final rule from taking effect in those Southern states.

Judge Jodi W. Dishman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on Wednesday also halted the final regulation from taking effect in that state after the state sued the administration individually in May.

The final rule is temporarily blocked in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Challenges affect more schools

But the challenges to Title IX extend beyond the 26 states that originally sued the administration, affecting schools across the country.

Judge John Broomes of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas expanded the temporary ban to also include “schools attended by members of Young America’s Foundation or Female Athletes United, as well as schools attended by children of Moms for Liberty members.”

The groups sued Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming earlier this year.

House GOP tries to stop the government

Republicans in Congress staunchly opposed the final version of the legislation.

In July, the GOP-controlled House passed legislation to undo the updated regulations under the Congressional Rules Review Act, a procedural tool Congress can use to invalidate certain actions by federal agencies.

But the legislation is unlikely to win approval in the Democratic-majority Senate, and President Joe Biden has said he would veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

LGBTQ students

LGBTQ rights groups opposed the Republican Party’s efforts to block the final version of the legislation from taking effect.

“Every student in this country deserves access to an education without fear of intimidation or discrimination,” Brandon Wolf, national spokesperson for the LGBTQ Human Rights Campaign, said in an emailed statement to States Newsroom.

“Yet MAGA politicians, by promoting blatant discrimination, have obtained eight preliminary injunctions blocking enforcement of the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules in 26 states.”

Wolf added that “we must continue to fight for LGBTQ+ students across the country because everyone deserves a safe educational experience — period.”

Meanwhile, the department has not yet made a decision on a separate rule establishing new criteria for transgender athletes.