This blog originally appeared at NBC NEWS.
Republicans contend that the rule is a tactic by the Biden administration to permit transgender females to participate in girls’ and women’s sports teams.
Kansas high school students, family members and advocates rally for transgender rights in Topeka on Jan. 31.
By The Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. — A federal judge in Kansas has blocked the enforcement of a federal rule that expands anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ students in four states and various other locations.
U.S. District Judge John Broomes ruled on Tuesday, suggesting the Biden administration reconsider whether enforcing the rule is “worth the effort.”
This ruling is the third of its kind in less than three weeks but is more extensive, affecting Alaska, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming, which challenged the rule. It also impacts a Stillwater, Oklahoma, middle school involved in a lawsuit and members of three groups supporting Republican efforts to roll back LGBTQ rights nationwide: Moms for Liberty, Young America’s Foundation, and Female Athletes United.
Judge Broomes, appointed by former President Donald Trump, ordered these groups to list the schools their members’ children attend so those schools also don’t have to comply with the rule. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who argued the case for the states, said this could affect thousands of schools.
Watch more: https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/transgender-students-navigates-florida-s-anti-lgbtq-law-213790277943
The Biden administration rule, set to take effect in August under the Title IX civil rights law of 1972, aims to prohibit sex discrimination in education. Judge Broomes’ order will remain in effect through the trial of the lawsuit in Kansas, with the judge indicating that the states and three groups are likely to prevail.
Republicans have argued that the rule is a tactic by the Biden administration to permit transgender females to participate in girls’ and women’s sports, a practice that is banned or restricted in Kansas and at least 24 other states. The administration has clarified that the rule does not apply to athletics. Opponents of the rule have also framed the issue as protecting the privacy and safety of women and girls in bathrooms and locker rooms.
Watch more: https://www.msnbc.com/ana-cabrera-reports/watch/supreme-court-to-hear-case-on-gender-affirming-care-for-minors-213550661957
Besides Broomes, two other federal judges issued rulings in mid-June blocking the new rule in 10 additional states. The rule aimed to protect LGBTQ students by expanding the definition of sexual harassment at schools and colleges and adding safeguards for victims.
Like the other judges, Broomes deemed the rule arbitrary and concluded that the Department of Education and its secretary, Miguel Cardona, exceeded the authority granted by Title IX. He also determined that the rule violated the free speech and religious freedom rights of parents and students who reject transgender students’ gender identities and wish to express those views at school or in public.
Broomes stated in his 47-page order that it is up to the Biden administration “to determine in the first instance whether continued enforcement in compliance with this decision is worth the effort.”
Broomes also expressed concerns that non-transgender students’ privacy and safety could be compromised by the rule. He referenced an Oklahoma middle school student’s statement that “on some occasions” cisgender boys used a girls’ bathroom “because they knew they could get away with it.”
“It is not hard to imagine that, under the Final Rule, an industrious older teenage boy may simply claim to identify as female to gain access to the girls’ showers, dressing rooms, or locker rooms, so that he can observe female peers disrobe and shower,” Broomes wrote, reflecting a common but largely debunked narrative from anti-trans activists about gender identity and school accommodations for transgender students.
fleeredstates.blog 
This is a good start!!
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