GOP Claims Title IX Expansion to Protect Transgender Students Undermines Women and Girls

A new Biden Administration initiative that expands protections for transgender students has met with challenges from over 65 House Republicans. Their opposition relates to a new Title IX rule within the Department of Education, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Critics of the changes argue that expanding the protections will undermine the current protections for women and girls in particular.

Title IX Revamp and New Protections

The Department of Education recently announced significant changes to the Title IX program, a civil rights law that prevents sex discrimination in schools that accept federal funds. The amended rule will take effect in August 2024 and expands the protection from sex assigned at birth to sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time.

Opposition and Concerns

Critics of this move are concerned about the implications on women and girls, who were the beneficiaries of the law in the first place. The new protections will be extended to males who express a female gender identity at birth. This has activated the opposition of some right-wing groups, as well as groups that remain interested in protecting female sports for biological females.

Additional Protections and Changes

The new Title IX provisions also increase nondiscrimination protections for pregnant students and methods of addressing sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations. The change moves the orientation of Title IX, which mostly applies to women and girls to ensure they are not discriminated against, and the expansion encompasses nearly all classes of individuals based on their self-expression rather than biological sex assigned at birth.

House Republicans’ Disapproval Resolution

Rep. Mary Miller, a Republican from Illinois, led a House Resolution disapproving of the change and seeking to reverse the new Title IX rule. These lawmakers argue that the new expansiveness of Title IX undermines and conflicts with its original intent, which was to provide express protections to women and girls specifically. They further state that the changes to Title IX violate protections intended to secure women’s rights and physical security in private spaces.

Administration and Title IX Enforcement

The enforcement of Title IX rules varies by Presidential Administration, as each President installs a Secretary to implement policy directives in line with the Administration’s policy positions. Former President Donald Trump has already stated his intent to reverse the policy change immediately if he wins the presidential election in November.

State-Level Opposition and Potential Legal Action

Many Republican lawmakers at the state level have expressed that they will not comply with the new interpretation of Title IX. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has stated that she will sue the Biden Administration for lost funds for schools that do not comply with the expanded Title IX.

Legal Challenges from Republican States

In addition to Arkansas, 20 other Republican states have initiated lawsuits arguing that the new Education initiative undermines protections for non-transgender students. Based on the number and content of these lawsuits, the new Title IX rule will likely not take effect in August as expected but will be blocked pending legal review by the courts.

Pending Rule on Athletics Eligibility

The rule as applied to the ability of transgender students to participate in sports for their preferred sexual orientation has not yet been determined. The Biden Administration is allegedly working on another rule governing athletics eligibility. At this premature point, it looks as though the Administration may prevent schools from banning transgender athletes from competing on a team that differs from their sex assigned at birth. Some exceptions are expected to accompany that rule.

Democratic Response to GOP Resolution

Democrat Rep. Mark Pocan from Wisconsin opposed the GOP resolution, stating that the expansion included in the new rule would give needed protections to many classifications of historically discriminated-against students, including those who are pregnant and parenting, in addition to expanding the protections further for the LGBTQ students.

Importance of the New Protections

Pocan also stated that if Republicans reverse the Title IX rule, the Department of Education would be less able to protect vulnerable students and support students who are victims of sexual violence. Finally, he alleged that the GOP is targeting LGBTQ students and other minorities in seeking to reduce the scope of the new Title IX rule.

Republican Disapproval Resolutions

This resolution opposing the Biden Administration’s Title IX rule is one of over 70 resolutions Republicans in the House of Representatives have introduced to signal opposition to Biden’s initiatives. Few are successful in passing the house, and when they do they are ordinarily vetoes by the President.

Judicial Review Up Next for Title IX Rule

Next up for this Dept. of Education rule will be review by the courts. A lawsuit filed by Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Montana states that the new rule “is a naked attempt to strong-arm our schools into molding our children in the current federal government’s preferred image of how a child should think, act, and speak. The Final Rule is an affront to the dignity of families and school administrators everywhere, and it is nowhere close to legal.”

State Lawsuits Challenging Final Rule

In the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, another lawsuit calls the new rule onerous and burdensome on states to enforce. This lawsuit is joined by Parents Defending Education and other interest groups opposed to the new rule.