Federal judge delivers first blow to Biden’s protections for transgender students

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Education Department’s final Title IX rule, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

The ruling: Western District of Louisiana Chief Judge Terry Doughty in an order Thursday declared that Title IX, a federal education law that bars sex-based discrimination, “was written and intended to protect biological women from discrimination.”

“Such purpose makes it difficult to sincerely argue that, at the time of enactment, 'discrimination on the basis of sex' included gender identity, sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, or sex characteristics,” Doughty, a Trump appointee, wrote. “Enacting the changes in the Final Rule would subvert the original purpose of Title IX.”

He also stated the case “demonstrates the abuse of power by executive federal agencies in the rulemaking process.”

The Education Department said it is reviewing the ruling and that "Title IX guarantees that no person experience sex discrimination in a federally-funded educational environment."

"The Department stands by the final Title IX regulations released in April 2024, and we will continue to fight for every student," a department spokesperson said.

Key context: The preliminary injunction blocks the Education Department’s rule from taking effect in August in Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and Idaho — a suite of states that filed one of at least seven lawsuits being pursued by Republican attorneys general.

The ruling limits how the agency can enforce the rule's transgender protections at schools in these states. Several states, including Louisiana, Montana, Florida, South Carolina and Oklahoma, had already said they will not comply with the new rule. And more than two dozen states are challenging the policy in federal court.

Doughty said he believed the states and more than a dozen Louisiana school boards challenging the rule proved their case could be likely to succeed because they demonstrated the final rule contradicts federal law and exceeds statutory authority, among other merits.

The judge also ruled Bostock v. Clayton County, a landmark Supreme Court case that said it is unlawful to discriminate against people based on their gender identity or sexual orientation in the workplace, does not apply to Title IX. The Supreme Court ruling has been one of the Biden administration’s core pieces of legal rationale to support its new interpretation of sex discrimination under Title IX.

Reactions to the ruling: The Louisiana-based lawsuit, which was one of the first in the nation filed to challenge the rule, was backed by the Defense of Freedom Institute. The group was founded by former Trump administration officials who were key in crafting the DeVos-era Title IX rule on sexual misconduct, which was overhauled in the Biden administration’s new regulation.

“When President Biden’s Department of Education issued its Title IX regulations last April, we at DFI pledged that we would fight back,” said Bob Eitel, DFI co-founder and former senior counselor to former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “The court has preliminarily enjoined the Education Department from enforcing these odious rules in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho. We are confident that other courts and states will soon follow."

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group that has lauded the department's rule, slammed the judge's orders as "MAGA theatrics."

"Today’s decision prioritizes anti-LGBTQ+ hate over the safety and well-being of students in the state," HRC President Kelley Robinson said. "This is MAGA theatrics with the dangerous goal of weaving discrimination into law. HRC will continue to mobilize communities and work to make sure that all students are protected under law.”