‘A rule that compels speech and engages in such viewpoint discrimination is impermissible,’ the judge wrote in the ruling.
A federal judge on June 17 issued an order temporarily blocking the Biden administration’s new Title IX transgender rule in an additional six states. The rule has sparked controversy for changing the definition of “sex” to include “gender identity” and giving female-identifying male students access to girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms.
“There are two sexes: male and female,” begins the memorandum and opinion written by U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves, filed on June 17 at the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Kentucky, Covington Division.
The judge’s order grants a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the new rule in six states: Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The rule has also been blocked in at least five other states.
Judge Reeves found that the Department of Education (DOE) exceeded its statutory authority in setting the new rules and acted in a way that was “arbitrary and capricious.”
In a move that sparked controversy and a flurry of lawsuits, the DOE on April 19 announced a final rule expanding the decades-old Title IX law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools to now include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
The changes, which are slated to go into effect on Aug. 1, give males who identify as females the right to use women’s restrooms and locker rooms and to join female-only organizations while construing “harassment” as including the use of pronouns that conform to one’s sex rather than one’s chosen gender identity. The new rules also mean that schools that refuse to comply risk losing essential federal funding and face the prospect of lawsuits.
Judge Reeves said the department failed to meaningfully address concerns regarding risks posed by the new rule to student and faculty safety and that the expanded Title IX has “serious” implications for free speech.
By Tom Ozimek
