The US Supreme Court has rejected the US government’s application to enforce a newly established Title IX rule that broadens protections to LGBTQ+ students by interpreting “sex discrimination” to include gender identity. The court’s decision means that federal court injunctions, which currently block three provisions of this rule, will remain in place while ongoing cases are resolved in federal appeals courts.
The unanimous ruling emphasized that the federal injunctions should remain effective, citing that the government had not provided a substantial basis to overturn the lower courts’ findings. The lower courts held that changes to the definition of “sex discrimination” are deeply intertwined with numerous other aspects of the new rule. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion further noted that the US government failed to specify which portions of the rule are unaffected by the definition changes and could still be enforced. The issue is slated for further examination, with the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit set to hear arguments in October.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, representing the dissent, argued that portions of the injunctions were excessively broad and prevented the enforcement of rules that address other forms of discrimination unrelated to gender identity. She opined that many provisions unrelated to gender identity, such as those concerning preemployment inquiries about an applicant’s marital status or sex and prohibiting pregnancy discrimination, should have been allowed to take effect.
This decision represents a significant challenge to the US Department of Education’s proposed Title IX interpretation, an initiative closely aligned with President Biden’s 2021 executive order on nondiscriminatory school environments. Presently, 26 states have fully blocked the new Title IX protections, which will remain in suspension pending federal appeals court decisions—including an upcoming review by the Sixth Circuit in October.
You can read the Supreme Court’s order here, and view the Department of Education’s final Title IX regulations here.
For more information on Title IX and its historical context, see the Department of Justice’s Title IX page.