Federal judge blocks Biden’s Title IX overhaul in four more states

A federal judge in Kansas has blocked the Department of Education’s Title IX rewrite in four more states, continuing a pattern of successive losses for the Biden administration on the controversial regulatory overhaul.

U.S. District Court Judge John W. Broomes issued an injunction on Tuesday to the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules, which change the definition of sex to include claimed gender identities, bringing the total number of states with a similar block to 14. The ruling blocked the new rules in Kansas, Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming, representing the fifth federal court to rule against the Biden administration.

Critics of the rewritten Title IX rules say the Education Department is attempting to strip women and girls of private spaces, such as restrooms and locker rooms, by allowing biological males to use the same facilities.

“Given … the evidence before the court, it is not hard to imagine that, under the Final Rule, an industrious older teenage boy may simply claim to identify as a female to gain access to the girls’ showers, dressing rooms, or locker rooms so that he can observe his female peers disrobe and shower,” Broomes wrote.

The judge also made note of the legislative history of Title IX, which he said clearly referred to “biological sex,” not claimed gender identities or sexual orientations.

“One of the principal purposes of the statute was to root out discrimination against women in education,” he stated. “The legislative history shows that Congress was concerned about the unequal treatment between men and women for admissions opportunities, scholarships, and sports.”

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican, argued the case before the court.

“If President Biden had his way, a 16-year-old female high school student on an overnight field trip could be forced to share a hotel room with a male who identifies as a girl, or the district would risk losing federal funding,” Kobach said, reacting to the court’s ruling. “We’re pleased the court ruled to rein in the administration’s vast overreach. It’s unconscionable, it’s dangerous for girls and women, and it’s against federal law.”

In addition to the four states involved in the lawsuit against the Education Department, other organizations involved in the case include Moms for Liberty, Young America’s Foundation, and the Alliance Defending Freedom.

“The Biden administration’s radical redefinition of sex won’t just rewire our educational system,” ADF legal counsel Rachel Rouleau said in a statement. “It means girls will be forced to undress in locker rooms and share hotel rooms with boys on overnight school trips, teachers and students will have to refrain from speaking truthfully about biological sex, and girls will lose their right to fair competition in sports.”

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In addition to sex-specific facilities being at issue, Broomes ruled the new Title IX rules violate the First Amendment, as they would force students and teachers to use “preferred pronouns” and alternative names to refer to some students with gender dysphoria. Broomes ruled it would undermine the speech of those who “want to articulate that sex is immutable and binary” and “refer to individuals with biologically accurate pronouns.”

Other states with a ruling that blocks the new Title IX rules include Louisiana, Mississippi, Idaho, Montana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, and West Virginia.