The regulations, which broaden sex discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation, remain blocked by lawsuits across much of the country.
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The Biden administration has sought to strengthen anti-harassment regulations after students accused of sexual misconduct were given more protections under former President Donald J. Trump.
Biden administration Title IX regulations that strengthen protections for L.G.B.T.Q. students went into effect in 24 states on Thursday, but the rule remains blocked in the rest of the country because of legal challenges.
The new regulations broaden the scope of Title IX, the landmark 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in institutions that receive federal funding. They extend the law’s reach to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as unequal treatment of pregnant students, significantly expanding the scope of complaints schools must investigate.
The partial implementation on Thursday was a significant, if incomplete, breakthrough for the Biden administration, which has fought to enforce stronger Title IX regulations after former President Donald J. Trump’s administration gave more protections to students accused of sexual misconduct.
“These regulations make crystal clear that everyone has the right to schools that respect their rights and offer safe, welcoming learning environments,” Miguel A. Cardona, the secretary of education, said on Thursday. “They clarify that Title IX’s prohibition of sex discrimination includes all forms of sex discrimination.”
He added: “It’s unacceptable that any student has to give up on their dreams of a college degree because they’re pregnant, and it’s unacceptable that any student face discrimination or bullying simply because of who they are.”
Republican attorneys general have challenged the regulations in 10 lawsuits, preventing them from taking effect in 26 states.
Last week, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to resolve the confusing legal landscape by allowing provisions that were not challenged to take effect while it appeals decisions blocking the rule, but the court has not yet agreed to weigh in.
“It’s a very fluid legal environment,” Catherine Lhamon, the Education Department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, said during a call with reporters on Thursday.
The rule sidestepped one of the most contentious topics in educational policy by not mandating whether transgender athletes must be allowed on sex-separated sports teams.
On the call on Thursday, Ms. Lhamon stressed that the Education Department was still pursuing a separate regulation to address that issue, but the current rule only covered any form of discrimination “separate and apart from on which team an athlete plays in a school.”
Some Republican lawmakers on Thursday nevertheless conflated the regulation’s stated aims with misleading claims about sports team participation.
“Thank God the Biden-Harris rewrite of Title IX will not go into effect in Alabama today,” Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama wrote on X. “Men don’t belong in women’s sports. It’s dangerous, it’s unfair, and it’s WRONG.”
Given the evolving legal landscape that emerged on Thursday, the Education Department urged students and those school administrators who will now be required to enforce the rule to check its status on the department’s website.
Zach Montague is a Times reporter covering the U.S. Department of Education, the White House and federal courts. More about Zach Montague
See more on: U.S. Politics, U.S. Supreme Court, President Joe Biden
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Source: nytimes.com
