The United States President, Joe Biden’s bid to protect transgender students in educational institutions has been thwarted by a federal judge’s ruling.
On Thursday, 9th January, US District Judge Danny Reeves, in Kentucky, struck down a rule from the Biden administration that aimed to prevent discrimination against transgender students, Reuters reports.
The judge ruled that the rule conflicted with Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education. Judge Reeves agreed with six Republican-led states, finding that while Title IX allows for sex-specific bathrooms, dormitories, and other facilities, the Department of Education’s rule wrongly prohibited distinctions based on sex.
“Expanding the meaning of ‘on the basis of sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ turns Title IX on its head,” wrote Reeves, an appointee of former President George W. Bush.
Critics of the rule argued that it would compel schools to let transgender students born male use women’s restrooms and locker rooms.
Reeves also stated that the rule would infringe upon educators’ free speech rights and religious freedoms under the First Amendment, as it would mandate the use of pronouns consistent with a student’s gender identity rather than biological sex.
The U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice have not yet commented on the ruling. In June, the judge temporarily blocked the rule’s enforcement in Tennessee and five other states.
Other judges also temporarily halted the rule in 20 additional states, and in August, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to allow parts of the rule to take effect in 10 states pending appeals.
Thursday’s ruling marks the first permanent decision to strike down the policy, which could face repeal under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, in a statement, praised the decision as “a huge win for women and girls across America.”
He added, “The court’s ruling is yet another repudiation of the Biden administration’s relentless push to impose a radical gender ideology through unconstitutional and illegal rulemaking.”
