New Federal Rule Prohibits Transgender School Bathroom Bans, But It’s Likely Not the Final Word

A new rule from President Joe Biden’s administration that blocks general policies to prevent transgender students from using school bathrooms that align with their gender identity could conflict with laws in Republican-controlled states.

The conflict over bathroom policy and other elements of a federal regulation finalized last week could set the stage for another wave of legal battles over how transgender children should be treated in the United States.

In recent years, transgender people have gained visibility and acceptance in the US – and some conservative officials have backed away.

Most states controlled by the Republican Party now have laws that control your rights. The measures include laws to keep transgender girls out of girls’ school sports, limiting the school bathrooms that transgender people can use, requiring school officials to notify parents if their students identify at school as transgender, and preventing school officials from school are required to use the pronouns a transgender. the student uses.

Most of these policies have been challenged in court.

Here’s a look at the new regulation, state laws and what could happen next.

The 1,577-page regulation finalized last week seeks to clarify Title IX, the 1972 sex discrimination law that was originally passed to address women’s rights and applies to schools and colleges that receive federal money.

The regulations, which will take effect in August, state that Title IX also prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Many Republicans say that was not the intent of the law.

The new rules also offer more protection to students who make accusations of sexual misconduct.

At least 11 states have adopted laws prohibiting transgender girls and women from using girls’ and women’s restrooms in public schools.

The new regulation opposes these comprehensive policies.

It states that sexual separation in schools is not always illegal. However, separation becomes a violation of Title IX’s nondiscrimination rule when it causes more than very minor harm to a protected individual, “such as when denying a transgender student access to a sex-segregated facility or activity.” , consistent with that student’s gender identity.” .”

The laws are in effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee. A judge’s order staying the execution is in effect in Idaho. A ban in Utah is scheduled to take effect on July 1.

At least seven states have laws or other policies that require schools to notify parents if their children are transgender.

The regulation appears to authorize these requirements, stating that “nothing in these final regulations prevents a recipient from disclosing information about a minor child to his or her parents, who have the legal right to receive disclosures on their child’s behalf.”

The requirements are already law in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana and North Carolina. Arizona law requires schools to provide information to parents, but does not specifically include details about students’ gender expression or sexuality. Virginia has asked schools to direct the state’s school districts to adopt similar policies, although they are not included in state law.

At least four state laws – Florida, Kentucky, Montana and North Dakota – are intended to protect from discipline teachers and/or students who do not use the pronouns used by transgender or non-binary students.

The regulations fight this, concluding that “harassment of a student – ​​including acts of verbal, non-verbal or physical aggression, intimidation or hostility based on the student’s nonconformity with stereotypical notions of masculinity and femininity or gender identity – may constitute discrimination with basis of sex under Title IX in certain circumstances.”

But they also clarify that “a missed remark” does not constitute harassment and seek to protect the right to freedom of expression.

The new rules do not specifically mention whether states can ban transgender girls from competing in women’s sports. The Biden administration has suspended a policy that would have prohibited schools from banning it entirely.

State laws containing such bans have been adopted in at least two dozen states in the name of preserving women’s sports. But judges have stayed enforcement of some of them, including in a ruling last week that applied only to a teenage athlete in West Virginia.

While the new rules are not specific to sports participation, advocates on both sides believe they could be enforced.

“They may be saying this doesn’t solve the problem, but through the broad language they are using, the bottom line is that you have to allow a boy on a girls’ team,” said Matt Sharp, attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, falsely identifying transgender girls like boys. The Alliance Defending Freedom is a conservative group that represents female athletes who challenge the sports participation of transgender women and girls.

“This document gives a good idea that you can’t have a rule that says, ‘If you’re transgender, you can’t participate,’” said Harper Seldin, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Lawsuits, probably.

After the rules were revealed last week, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti posted on X that “TN is prepared to defend Title IX & protect against illegal regulations that redefine what sex really means.”

“We absolutely plan to challenge this betrayal of women in court,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a statement Monday.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond provided comments critical of the rule before it was finalized.

Over the past two decades, attorneys general have frequently sued the president of the opposing party over rules and executive orders.

Sharp, of the Alliance Defending Freedom, said his group is still dissecting the federal rules but represents groups that could be affected, including female athletes and religious schools, and could sue over aspects of the rules. He hopes states do the same thing.

“I don’t think many states want to wait until the federal government enforces this,” he said.

The ACLU’s Seldin said his organization will carefully watch how the rules work.

“What do these laws and regulations mean in terms of transgender youth and transgender students who are attacked in every aspect of their lives?” he asked.

___ Associated Press reporter Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla.; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; and Sean Murphy of Oklahoma City contributed to this article.