Tennessee sues feds over new Title IX protections for transgender students
Tennessee and five other states are suing the U.S. Department of Education to fight new Title IX rules that include protections for LGBTQ+ students, saying they upend women's rights and put students, families and schools in harm's way.
Title IX is a longstanding federal law that bans sexual discrimination against students, employees and others at public schools, colleges and universities that receive federal funds. Earlier this month, President Joe Biden's administration rolled out updated Title IX rules that include protections against all sex-based harassment and discrimination, including discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity and sexual characteristics.
“Title IX has protected women for 50 years," Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. "It is a law … built around the idea of men and women, sex binary. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted, enduring differences between the sexes necessitate things like separate bathrooms, separate locker rooms, separate living facilities, separate sports teams. This is something that our law has recognized for decades.”
If schools refuse to comply with the new Title IX rules, they risk losing federal funding. Skrmetti said the Department of Education's move does away with sex-based distinctions for things like bathrooms, locker rooms and sports.
"Under this new rule, a boy can walk into a girl's locker room at a school and if the girl complains that his presence makes her uncomfortable, she can be brought up for investigation and potential penalties for violating civil rights," Skrmetti said. "The new rule is entirely inconsistent with the text of Title IX and its adoption violates the United States Constitution."
In a news release, Skrmetti called the new Title IX rules "radical," "illegal" and a "power grab" that overrides the will of the people through the repsentatives they have elected. He also said they force Tennessee and other states to accept what he called "radical gender ideology."
Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia have also joined the lawsuit with Tennessee. The suit was filed this week in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky.
The new Title IX rules, which take effect Aug. 1, do not explicitly require schools to allow transgender athletes to play on sports teams that align with their gender identities. However, the regulations do say a school would violate the law if it "denies a transgender student access to a sex-separate facility or activity consistent with that of a student's gender identity."
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said that Title IX has promoted equal opportunities for students to learn and thrive for more than 50 years nationwide.
"These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights," Cardona said in an April 19 news release
What to know Updated Biden administration Title IX rules will soon affect students across US
What Tennessee law says about transgender students
The Title IX changes come as growing list of Republican-controlled states, including Tennessee, have adopted laws restricting the rights of transgender students in recent years.
Tennessee passed a law in 2021 barring transgender students in middle and high schools from playing on sports teams that match their gender identities. A transgender high school student in Knoxville sued the state after being denied a chance to try out for the boy's golf team. While the court has allowed the student to try out for the boy's golf team, it didn't block the law from being implemented against other transgender students. That case is ongoing.
Tennessee also has a 2021 law in place banning transgender students and faculty from accessing bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. A lawsuit, backed by the Human Rights Campaign, is ongoing and set for trial in 2025.
Report: Title IX complaints increased slightly in Tennessee in 2023
What else the Title IX overhaul includes
The long-awaited change to Title IX rules fulfills one of Biden's campaign promises and undoes rules put into place by former President Donald Trump's administration. For years, critics said the Trump-era policies gave more rights to people accused of sexual assault on school campuses and stripped survivors of their rights.
Here are a few key things the updated rules now include:
A lower standard for colleges to find someone guilty of sexual misconduct
A higher standard for schools nationwide in how quickly they respond to all types of sex-based discrimination, instead of just sexual harassment
An abolishment of required live hearings that could cause more harm to those involved in sex-based misconduct cases
A boost in protections for students, employees and applicants that guard against discrimination "based on pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, or recovery from these conditions
More information can be found at ed.gov/TitleIX.
Evan Mealins and USA TODAY contributed to this story.
Reach reporter Rachel Wegner at [email protected] or find her on Twitter, Threads and Bluesky @RachelAnnWegner.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee sues Dept. of Ed over new Title IX trans student protections