June 14 :
On June 13, a federal court in Louisiana prevented the Obama administration from implementing a new regulation that would have protected LGBT students from gender-based discrimination in educational institutions in four states. Preliminary injunction prohibiting implementation of US Department of Education regulation protecting LGBT students from sex discrimination under Title IX in states run by Republicans in Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho was ordered by US District Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe.
Schools in those states would have been compelled to accommodate transgender students' use of locker rooms and restrooms if the regulation was not stopped, according to those governments' arguments. Former Republican president Donald Trump appointee Doughty argued that the original intent of Title IX was to protect biological females from discrimination, and that implementing the revisions proposed in the final rule would undermine this aim.
The rule had been challenged in nine lawsuits by conservative activists and Republican-led states, who contend that it constitutes an illegal rewriting of a statute meant to safeguard women from educational discrimination. This was the first time a judge had issued a ruling blocking the rule.
Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen of Montana made a statement saying that this is a major victory for women's rights. "This decision will keep young women and girls protected from dangerous situations, just as Title IX has done for decades."
Student safety from harassment, sexism, and abuse should be a top priority, according to Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson, who issued a statement stating that the lawsuit had the "dangerous goal of weaving discrimination into law."
No decision has been made on the other cases. The regulation is scheduled to go live on August 1. A request for comment was not responded to by the Education Department.
In April, the department issued a rule that it claimed clarified that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools and colleges receiving federal funding, also includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
According to the agency, a ruling by the US Supreme Court in 2020 determined that gay and transgender employees were protected under a prohibition on sex discrimination in the workplace found in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
When interpreting Title IX, courts frequently look to Title VII for guidance because both statutes prohibit discrimination based on gender.
It was "inconsistent with the text, structure, and purpose of Title IX," according to Doughty and the Republican state attorneys general of Idaho, Montana, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
According to Doughty, the regulation would make schools use students' preferred pronouns and grant them access to restrooms and locker rooms depending on their gender identity. This is a very political subject that the agency does not have the power to handle. According to him, it violated several fundamental requirements, such as the First Amendment's guarantees of free expression and religion, and it also had vague conditions, which went against the U.S. Constitution's Spending Clause.
