I Tampa, Florida, students from Hillsborough High School staged a protest against a Republican-supported bill known as “Don’t Say Gay,” which aims to prohibit discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms. The bill, criticized by Democrats as anti-LGBTQ, has sparked significant controversy.
On June 14, a federal appeals court struck a blow to President Joe Biden’s administration by rejecting its attempt to reinstate protections for transgender students. This directive, which allowed transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms and join sports teams that correspond with their gender identity, had been halted in 20 Republican-led states.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati upheld a previous ruling, asserting that the Department of Education’s 2021 guidance overstepped its bounds by imposing new obligations on public schools not mandated by federal law. The panel ruled 2-1, emphasizing that the department did not follow the necessary rule-making procedures and did not clarify if federal laws against sex discrimination in education extend to LGBTQ students.
This decision maintains a 2022 block from a Tennessee federal judge, preventing enforcement of the guidance in the 20 states involved, which include numerous public universities. A spokesperson for the Department of Education reiterated the agency’s commitment to the guidance, emphasizing the importance of student safety in schools.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office did not provide a comment. Meanwhile, Alliance Defending Freedom, representing an Arkansas student-athlete and Christian schools, lauded the ruling. Matt Bowman, a lawyer with the group, criticized the Biden administration’s efforts, claiming they jeopardized women’s and girls’ rights.
The guidance in question was issued following a landmark 2020 Supreme Court ruling that extended federal workplace sex discrimination protections to LGBTQ workers. The Education Department argued that this logic should similarly apply to Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in education. Despite this, the new formal regulations adopted in April to extend Title IX protections to LGBTQ students remain unaffected by the court’s decision.
A federal judge in Louisiana recently blocked these new regulations in four Republican-led states, arguing they contradicted Title IX’s intent to protect biological females from discrimination. The 6th Circuit’s Friday ruling also dismissed several procedural arguments from the Biden administration, affirming that the guidance’s potential legal and financial repercussions justified the states’ lawsuit.
In dissent, Circuit Judge Danny Boggs contended that the states lacked standing to challenge the informal policy statements, asserting they could not be reviewed by courts.
