WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has upheld a temporary hold on new sex discrimination regulations in education, affecting nearly half of the United States, in a decision announced on Friday. This ruling rejected the Biden administration’s appeal for implementation.
The decision was made by a narrow 5-4 vote, with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch aligning with the three liberal justices in a dissenting opinion.
Key issues at stake include protections for pregnant students and student parents, as well as the necessary protocols for schools in handling sexual misconduct allegations.
Among the important new regulations, safeguards for transgender students were notably absent from the administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court. These regulations continue to be stalled in 25 states and across numerous colleges and schools due to lower court rulings.
The ongoing litigation concerning these regulations will proceed in the affected courts.
The new rules were implemented in other U.S. educational institutions starting August 1.
The rights and protections for transgender individuals, particularly youth, have emerged as a significant political issue in recent years alongside heightened visibility for the community. Many Republican-led states have enacted bans on gender-affirming health care for minors and have implemented restrictions on bathroom access for transgender individuals, as well as policies excluding trans girls from certain sports events.
In a bid to alleviate tensions, the Biden administration introduced a regulation aimed at safeguarding the rights of LGBTQ+ students under Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions. This regulation, two years in the making, generated over 240,000 responses, marking a new record for the Education Department.
The regulation stipulates that it is illegal to discriminate against transgender students compared to their peers, including prohibiting restrictions on bathroom access. However, the regulation does not specifically address participation in sports, a topic of significant debate.
The enforcement of Title IX remains a contentious issue. Federal courts have indicated that the new regulations cannot be enforced in the majority of Republican states currently involved in litigation.
In an unsigned statement, the Supreme Court majority expressed that they would not challenge lower court decisions stating that “the new definition of sex discrimination is intertwined with and affects many other provisions of the new rule.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting, argued that the lower court orders are overly broad, as they hinder the enforcement of the entire rule, including sections unrelated to the objections raised by the plaintiffs.
