Five Republican-led states sued the Biden administration over its new rules that expand Title IX, the federal civil rights law that protects students from sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools. to protect transgender students.
A handful of Republican officials in other states have announced they won’t enforce the new rules, but have refrained from filing a lawsuit.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, sued the Biden administration on Monday, seeking in part to prohibit schools from banning transgender students and teachers from using school facilities and pronouns that match their gender identity, among other policies. .
Paxton said extended rules mandate of “conformity to radical gender ideology”.
“Texas will not allow Joe Biden to rewrite Title IX by destroying women’s legal protections to further his radical obsession with gender ideology,” Paxton said. “The attempt to subvert federal law is patently illegal, undemocratic and unrealistic. “Texas will always oppose Biden’s extremist, destructive policies that put women at risk.”
Republican attorneys general in Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and Idaho filed a separate lawsuit It argued Monday that the rule oversteps the Department of Education’s authority, in part because it redefines gender to include gender identity.
“This is all about a political agenda, ignoring the significant safety concerns for young female students in preschools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities across the country,” said Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. in his statement.
The Education Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Top officials in Florida and Oklahoma have announced they will reject the rules.
“Florida rejects Joe Biden’s bid to rewrite Title IX,” Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a video on social media. “We will not comply and we will respond.”
This was announced by Ryan Walters, the head of public instruction of the state of Oklahoma at a news conference on Thursday said the state was “taking all steps to oppose this illegal and unconstitutional action by the Biden administration.”
“We have already instructed our districts not to comply with this illegal rule change by President Biden,” Walters said. “We will not let boys into the girls’ toilet. We will not allow boys to play girls’ sports.
More and more states are passing laws targeting transgender students. In recent years, half of the provinces passed measures banning trans students from playing school sports on teams that match their gender identities and 10 states have banned transgender school employees and students using restrooms that match their gender identity in K-12 schools.
Codifies new Title IX regulations 2021 guidelines From the Department of Education, which directs schools to interpret federal law to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The guidance was a reversal of a Trump administration policy that allowed schools under Obama to allow transgender students to use school facilities that match their gender identity.
In September 2021, 20 Republican-led states sued, and in July 2022. A federal judge was temporarily blocked From enforcing the Department of Education’s guidance against these states.
While Paxton and Walters were among Republican officials who mentioned the issue in their statement, the new guidance does not specifically address transgender students’ participation in school sports. In April 2023, the Department of Education proposed a rule that would change Title IX bar bans trans students from competing on sports teams that conform to gender identities, although the measure would allow some restrictions on more elite-level sports such as high school and college. Formerly Deptt was planned to be released this rule in March, but there have been many delays.