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By Katherine Fung
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A Kentucky judge has given President-elect Donald Trump a "blank slate" to write policy on transgender rights with less than two weeks until he takes office.
U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves struck down the Biden administration's expansion of Title IX in a Thursday decision after finding that rules expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students overstepped the president's authority.
Why It Matters
Trump has already promised to end the rules "on day one" of his presidency, but legal analyst Chris Geidner said that instead of the new administration having to find legal pathways to undue the Biden policy, Trump will get a "blank slate" thanks to Reeves' decision to scrap the entire 1,500-page resolution.
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What To Know
The Biden administration finalized the new Title IX rules last year, expanding the law to prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation in education, as well as broaden the definition of harassment to include a wider range of misconduct.
But those efforts drew fierce criticism from conservatives who said it could be used to protect transgender athletes in girls' sports. As a result, the rule was halted in more than half of the country—26 states—after a wave of legal challenges led by Republican-led states.
Thursday's decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. Reeves sided with the states after finding that the new rules were "fatally" tainted by legal shortcomings. The judge said the 1972 law should not cover any more than what it was set out to protect since Congress created it, calling it an attempt to bypass the legislative process.
He also found that it violated free speech rights by requiring teachers to use the chosen pronouns of a student because it would allow the government to chill the speech of an educator or force them to affirm a belief that they disagree with.
What People Are Saying
Chris Geidner, legal journalist, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter: "Now, I know, you ask: 'Wouldn't Trump just have removed it?' Yes, but: It would have taken time, focus, and effort. Now, the rule is gone — nationwide. Because DOJ only has 11 days to deal with it, which is no time at all, this ruling will stand. And so: Trump will start with a blank slate."
Jonathan Skrmetti, the attorney general of Tennessee who brought the case, in a Thursday statement: "Because the Biden rule is vacated altogether, President Trump will be free to take a fresh look at our Title IX regulations when he returns to office."
Danny C. Reeves, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, wrote in his decision: "Put simply, there is nothing in the text or statutory design of Title IX to suggest that discrimination 'on the basis of sex' means anything other than it has since Title IX's inception—that recipients of federal funds under Title IX may not treat a person worse than another similarly-situated individual on the basis of the person's sex, i.e., male or female."
Jessica Lee, the co-director of the Center for WorkLife Law and co-founder of the Center's Pregnant Scholar Initiative, in a statement: "This shameful decision puts pregnant and postpartum students, and millions of others, in harm's way. Without the protections offered by the 2024 Title IX regulations, pregnant students will struggle to get the accommodations and leave they need to both stay healthy and continue their education."
Betsy DeVos, the former education secretary under Trump administration, in a post on X: "The radical, unfair, illegal, and absurd Biden Title IX re-write is GONE."
The Congressional Equality Caucus, which advocates for LGBTQ equality in the House of Representatives, on X: "All students deserve to attend school free from discrimination and harassment."
Tiffany Justice, a parents' rights advocate, on X: "Parents win. Biden loses. Again. HUGE win today out of the US District Court Eastern District Of Kentucky Northern Division. They have BLASTED the horrendous Biden Title IX overreach. The Court standing up for parents rights is AMAZING. The US Constitution Matters and no federal law can compel the speech of pronouns in support of gender ideology nonsense in public school - K-12 or colleges. We are still fighting in our own federal case on this topic out of Kansas. Biden made a huge error in trying to shove these regulations down the throats of Americans."
Riley Gaines, a conservative commentator active in the movement to ban transgender athletes in women's sports, on X: "Huge win for girls and women everywhere!!! This morning, a federal court ruled in favor of reality. Biden's Title IX rewrite has been vacated nationwide. Common sense is slowly returning. Thank you, @AGTennessee."
What Happens Next
Trump will take office on January 20.
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