FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s new Title IX rule that expands protections for LGBTQ+ students in six additional states, dealing another setback for a policy that was under legal attack by Republican attorneys general.
U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves referred to the regulation as “arbitrary in the truest sense of the word” in granting an injunction blocking it in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. His decision comes days after a different federal judge temporarily blocked the new rule takes effect in Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana.
Monday’s decision in Kentucky was applauded by the state’s Republican Attorney General, Russell Coleman, who said the regulation would harm equal opportunities for women.
“The judge’s order makes clear that the U.S. Department of Education’s attempt to redefine ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ is illegal and beyond the agency’s regulatory authority,” Coleman said in a statement.
The two cases are among at least seven supported by more than 20 Republican-led states fighting President Joe Biden’s administration. Set to take effect in August, the policy expands Title IX civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ students, expands the definition of sexual harassment in schools and colleges, and adds safeguards for victims.
In another filing, the Department of Education on Friday asked a federal judge in Missouri to deny a request for a preliminary injunction against the new rule. The lawsuit was filed last month by the Republican attorneys general of Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The department said prohibiting the rule “would substantially harm the federal government’s interest in preventing discrimination in federally funded educational programs and activities.”
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Associated Press writer Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report.
