This blog originally appeared at THE HILL.
Texas Attorney General files lawsuit against Biden administration regarding Title IX regulations broadening protections for transgender students.
On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) initiated legal action against the Biden administration, challenging the newly established federal nondiscrimination safeguards for transgender students. This lawsuit targets alterations made to Title IX by the Education Department, which, after more than a year of postponements, recently solidified comprehensive amendments. Scheduled for implementation on August 1, these revisions encompass protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, provoking discontent among certain conservative circles.
Paxton, in a press release announcing the lawsuit, vehemently opposed what he termed Joe Biden’s arbitrary alteration of Title IX, alleging it compromises legal safeguards for women in favor of an extreme fixation on gender ideology. He characterized this endeavor as patently unlawful, undemocratic, and detached from reality.
Notably, the Education Department refrained from immediate comment on the matter.
The lawsuit was filed in the Amarillo Division of the Northern District of Texas, where U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk is likely to preside. Kacsmaryk, the sole federal judge in the division, has publicly voiced opposition to laws safeguarding LGBTQ individuals, including the Equality Act, which endeavors to designate sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes.
Before his appointment to the federal bench in 2019 by former President Trump, Kacsmaryk submitted a brief in support of the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia in 2016. This brief contested a lawsuit filed by Gavin Grimm, a transgender student who was denied access to the boys’ restroom at his school, alleging discrimination under Title IX.
In his brief, Kacsmaryk advocated against interpreting “sex” in Title IX to include gender identity.
In the lawsuit filed on Monday, Paxton criticized the Biden administration’s new Title IX regulations as ambiguous and excessively broad, contending they misconstrue the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County. He asserted that these regulations wrongly conflate discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity with sex discrimination.
The Biden administration frequently cites the landmark 2020 Supreme Court ruling as a basis for fortifying federal protections for transgender individuals. A recent rule finalized by the Health Department that enhances the Affordable Care Act’s ban on sex discrimination similarly relies on this precedent.
Paxton, alongside America First Legal, raised concerns in the lawsuit about the adverse impacts of the final Title IX rule, arguing that expanding the definition of sex discrimination to encompass gender identity will detrimentally affect women and girls. Moreover, Republican-led states, including Louisiana, have vowed to challenge the administration’s new Title IX rules, asserting they will penalize individuals who decline to use a transgender person’s preferred name or pronouns.
Louisiana, joined by Montana, Idaho, and Mississippi, filed a lawsuit on Monday, contending that the new regulations significantly weaken Title IX. It’s worth noting that all federally funded schools must adhere to these final regulations to receive government funding.
Additionally, the Biden administration has yet to finalize a separate rule regarding athletics eligibility. A proposal disclosed by the Education Department last April seeks to prevent schools from implementing policies that outrightly bar transgender student-athletes from participating in sports teams aligned with their gender identity.
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