In a huge win for women and girls, a Federal court has struck down the Biden administration’s rewrite of Title IX, first introduced in a January 2021 executive order.
Aimed to allow biological males to participate in women’s sports and access women-only spaces, the rule sparked significant backlash, in that it undermined the original intent of the landmark law, which protects against sex-based discrimination in education.
The rule, implemented by President Joe Biden’s administration, reinterprets the Title IX ban on “sex” discrimination to include a ban on “gender identity” discrimination even though the phrase “gender identity” does not appear anywhere in the 1972 law.
In a decision issued Thursday, U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves scrapped the entire 1,500-page regulation after deciding it was “fatally” tainted by legal shortcomings. The rule had already been halted in 26 states after a wave of legal challenges.
The Court ruled that the department “exceeded its statutory authority” in implementing the rule and found that the rule itself violates the United States Constitution because it would “chill speech” related to gender ideology and because it is “vague and overbroad” in how it is written.
President-elect Donald Trump previously promised to end the rule “on day one” and made anti-transgender themes a centerpiece of his campaign.
The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
