United States – A federal judge in Kentucky on Monday stopped protections for LGBT students from discrimination in schools and colleges based on their gender identities in six Republican-led states that sued the federal government over the new rules set by Biden’s administration, saying that they are unlawful, as reported by Reuters.
Judge Says Rule Violates Title IX
Judge Danny Reeves’s verdict, exercising jurisdiction over the District Judge of Lexington, joined the preceding nine other states to prevent the implementation of a rule of the U.S. Department of Education on August I as planned. The rule, released in April, moves to also cover any students identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transsexual under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 against discrimination for “sex.”
Republican state attorneys general from Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, and West Virginia and a Christian school association also filed lawsuits against the rule. In another case, Reeves decided in favor of the plaintiffs and stated that the rule infringed on Title IX.
The civil rights law, the judge concluded, aimed to achieve equitable status in education for men and women, as well as prohibiting discrimination “on the basis of sex” of any participant in an education program or activity receiving federal funds.
“At bottom, the department would turn Title IX on its head by redefining ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity,'” wrote Reeves, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush.
First Amendment Concerns Raised
The judge stated that the rule would also infringe on free speech and religious freedom rights guaranteed by the 1st Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, as teachers would be forced to refer to any student by their gender identity and not their biological sex.
This decision mirrors another federal judge who on Thursday stopped the rule from being implemented in Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho. Litigation by 16 other states continues to seek a reversal of the rule.
Republican state attorneys general praised the decision. They explained that the intended rule would compel schools to permit female-born students who self-identify as male to use their washrooms and changing rooms.
An Education Department official defended the rule, stating that it was developed “to fulfill the Title IX statutory obligation. ”
The department said when issuing the rule, it made it clear that violations of Title IX’s prohibition against sex-based discrimination include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Ruling Based on Supreme Court Precedent
The department relied on a U. S. Supreme Court decision from 2020 in which the court ruled that a prohibition of sex discrimination in employment contained in a different law, Title VIl, also covered gay and transgender employees, as reported by Reuters.
Judges must frequently turn to Title VII’s precedents when ruling on Title IX, as both statutes prohibit sex discrimination.
Department Previously Issued Guidance
Before issuing the rule, the Education Department had released guidance that provided many of the same protections to LGBT students. A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the attempt to overturn a decision that prevent implementation of the guidance in 20 states.