Judge orders Biden admin to halt Title IX rule in more states, schools

(The Center Square) – A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to delay implementation of its sweeping changes to Title IX in another four states and at schools attended by students who belong to specific organizations or have parents who do.

A Kansas district court on Tuesday blocked the Department of Education from implementing its updated rules expanding longstanding protections around sex discrimination to include gender identity in four more states and specific schools.

It’s the latest in a series of rulings showing lawsuits challenging the rule ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline are likely to succeed. Courts have now halted the rule's implementation in over a dozen states.

“Plaintiffs include the States of Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming. Plaintiffs also include K.R., a minor, and three organizations: Moms for Liberty, Young America’s Foundation, and Female Athletes United,” wrote United States District Judge John W. Broomes in the Tuesday memorandum and order .

The injunction prevents the Biden administration’s Department of Education from implementing the new rule in those states and in schools attended by students who are a part of Young America’s Foundation and Female Athletes United or who have parents who are members of Moms for Liberty.

“Gender ideology does not belong in public schools and we are glad the courts made the correct call to support parental rights,” Moms for Liberty co-founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich said in a statement.

“The federal government has no right to claim our children as their own or to push parents out of the classroom,” the women said.

The lawsuit challenges the sweeping change to the federal nondiscrimination statute on a number of fronts. The recent court order signals that a difficult road for the Biden administration in court.

“Plaintiffs contend that the Final Rule is contrary to Title IX, violates the major questions doctrine, violates the Spending Clause and the individual Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, and is arbitrary and capricious,” Broomes wrote in the order.

“Ultimately, the court finds that Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on several claims and, as such, are entitled to injunctive relief,” the federal judge wrote.

The lawsuit against the Biden administration’s rule also targets how federal education funds are tied with compliance and conflict with state laws related to transgender students using bathroom facilities and playing in sports.

“Plaintiff States all receive federal funding for their schools and are thus required to comply with the Final Rule. A failure to comply with Title IX may result in termination of federal funding,” the court order reads. “Plaintiff States assert that the Final Rule conflicts with laws passed in their states such as laws regarding separate facilities and restrooms for both sexes and prohibiting males from competing against females in sports.”

The Department of Education has maintained in court that its rule accurately fulfills the spirit of the 1972 statute preventing sex discrimination in educational environments.

“The Rule’s definition of hostile-environment sex-based harassment is not overbroad or vague, but instead tracks familiar standards used previously in Title IX and in analogous contexts, like Title VII’s sex-based harassment definition,” reads a brief filed by the federal government in response to the challenge from the states, individuals and organizations.

Other courts have ruled that the Biden administration’s rule is likely unconstitutional and issued preliminary injunctions which signal lawsuits challenging it are likely to succeed on the merits.

Last month, federal judges in different cases barred the rule from going into effect in 10 states over concerns that the new rule is not in line with the meaning of Title IX and violates the Constitution.