Republican states oppose new Title IX rules protecting LGBTQ+ students

Republican states are pushing back against the Biden administration’s new expanded campus sexual assault rules, filing multiple legal challenges that they say overstep the president’s authority and undermine anti-discrimination laws.

At least three federal lawsuits were filed on Monday in Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, with support from a total of nine Republican-led states. Tennessee and West Virginia are also planning a joint response.

The lawsuits are the first to challenge Biden’s new Title IX rules, which provide additional protections for LGBTQ+ students and victims of sexual assault. The policy, finalized in April and set to take effect in August, has sparked controversy over its expansion of Title IX to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called the new rules a federal overreach, arguing that the 1972 law was intended to prevent discrimination based on biological sex only. Other states involved in the lawsuits claim that the updated rules conflict with their own laws regarding transgender students’ access to facilities.

The Biden administration’s rules, which were proposed nearly two years ago and received a record number of public comments, have faced criticism for potentially impacting transgender athletes and eroding the due process rights of accused students.

The lawsuits seek to halt the implementation of the new rules and overturn them, citing concerns about their impact on state sovereignty and the rights of accused individuals.

As the legal battle unfolds, the Education Department has yet to respond to the lawsuits, leaving the future of the new Title IX rules uncertain.