WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on Monday rescinded protections for students by nullifying portions of Title IX resolution agreements involving gender identity, reversing policies adopted under previous administrations and prompting criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates.
Previous administrations put in place provisions to prevent and address discrimination against students based on gender identity. Under the Obama and Biden administrations, as reported by PBS, those provisions prohibited “sex discrimination in education, to include protections for transgender and gay students.”
In 2024, the Biden administration’s Title IX rule “impermissibly expanded the scope of Title IX to enforce discrimination based on ‘gender identity,’ not biological sex,” according to a press release from the Department of Education.
According to Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey, the action reflects the administration’s efforts to bar transgender students from participating in girls’ and women’s sports as well as accessing shared “intimate spaces.”
The rollback of portions of six resolution agreements currently affects several school districts and a college: Cape Henlopen School District, Delaware Valley School District, Fife School District, La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, Sacramento City Unified and Taft College.
According to the Education Department, schools were previously “illegally saddled” with Title IX violations due to actions such as “improper use of preferred pronouns” or “asking questions about a student’s preferred ‘gender.’”
The Trump administration believes “these districts are not in violation of the law,” as stated in the department’s press release.
“Today is yet another demonstration of the Trump Administration’s commitment to uphold the law, protect our students, and restore common sense,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey. “Today, the Trump Administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda.”
According to The New York Times, the executive director of the Transgender Law Center, Shelby Chestnut, said, “The administration’s actions jeopardized the safety and well-being of transgender students.”
The rescinding of provisions would result in actions such as the termination of required training about gender-based discrimination, according to The New York Times. The Department of Education will “no longer play a role in enforcing those agreements, which called for schools to take steps to comply with federal civil rights laws,” PBS reported.
Cape Henlopen School District, Delaware Valley School District, Fife School District, La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, Sacramento City Unified and Taft College will no longer be monitored or required to enforce the rescinded portions of the six Title IX agreements.
As stated by Shelby Chestnut in The New York Times, “Students should be safe to go to school and get an education.”
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