How Biden’s Title IX Reform Became a Legal Morass
Katherine Knott
August 1, 2024
A little more than 100 days ago, the Biden administration finalized its overhaul of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which promised to usher in a new era for the federal civil rights law with greater protections for LGBTQ+ students and those who are pregnant, as well as new measures aimed at better supporting victims of sexual harassment.
Complying with the rule by Aug. 1 would have been a lift for overtaxed Title IX offices in the best of times. But the new rule has run headlong into a divisive national debate about diversity, equity and inclusion and the rights of transgender individuals—complicating colleges’ efforts to comply and raising the stakes for officials in Republican-led states who do. (One Title IX administrator in Texas was suspended after telling a student newspaper that her university would follow the new regulations.)
Some state leaders have told their colleges to not comply with the regulations, and 26 Republican attorneys general have challenged the regulations in court. So far, they’ve won seven temporary injunctions that prevent the Education Department from enforcing the regulations in those 26 states, and on hundreds of campuses in the others. Two injunctions were handed down the day before the regulations went into effect.
