The U.S. Department of Education violated teachers’ rights by mandating them to use transgender kids’ names and pronouns, according to a federal district court judge in Kentucky who invalidated President Joe Biden’s attempt to protect transgender children and make other changes to Title IX.
The countrywide verdict on Thursday was a significant setback for LGBTQ+ advocates and the Biden administration in its last days. Less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, the rule was expected to come under more scrutiny from a politician who used a culture-war-focused campaign to disparage transgender individuals.
The goal of the Biden administration rule, which was published in April of last year, was to safeguard LGBTQ+ kids attending K–12 schools, colleges, and universities. Additionally, pregnant students were granted rights under the rule. The federal statute that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education, Title IX, was updated to cover sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Eastern District of Kentucky Chief Judge Danny Reeves stated in his judgment that the education department was not permitted to extend Title IX to forbid discrimination on the basis of gender identity. President George W. Bush nominated Reeves to the bench.
Regardless of the sex assigned at birth, a person’s gender identity is the gender they identify with.
According to Reeves, the whole purpose of Title IX is to prohibit sex-based discrimination; adding gender identity to the mix eviscerates the law and essentially negates its purpose.
Several states, including Louisiana, filed lawsuits against the Biden administration over the regulation. At the time of the Kentucky decision, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s case was still pending in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a statement to the Illuminator, Attorney General Liz Murrill said, “Louisiana is honored to have litigated this issue alongside Tennessee and our sister States.”America is having a fantastic day!
In a message on X, the website that was formerly known as Twitter, Governor Jeff Landry also hailed the decision.
Biden’s attempt to amend Title IX has failed, Landry wrote on his personal account. Although it’s unfortunate that this even went to court, I’m happy to see that women and girls nationwide have won.
The rule had been temporarily halted in over half of the states in the United States, including Louisiana and Tennessee, while the litigation was ongoing before Thursday’s ruling.
Reeves’ conclusion significantly rejects the rule on First Amendment grounds, even though it cites a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court that restricts the regulating power of federal agencies.
Reeves cited parts of the statute that might be read as classifying student misgendering and deadnaming as harassment, saying that the First Amendment did not allow the government to suppress speech or force affirmance of a position with which the speaker disagrees in this way.
Using a transgender or nonbinary person’s birth name or deceased name against their will is known as “deadnaming.” When someone refers to someone by a gender they do not identify with, it is known as misgendering.
As a 501c(3) public charity, Louisiana Illuminatoris is a part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network backed by grants and a partnership of supporters. The editorial independence of Louisiana Illuminator is maintained. For inquiries, send an email to [email protected] to reach Editor Greg LaRose.
