The Education Department won’t be able to enforce its new Title IX regulations, set to take effect nationwide Aug. 1, in Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska or South Dakota, a federal judge ruled Wednesday evening.
Judge Rodney Sippel of the Eastern District of Missouri found that the states had a “fair chance of prevailing” on their arguments that the new regulations, which strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ students, exceed the department’s authority and violate the First Amendment.
Following Sippel’s ruling, the Title IX regulations are now temporarily blocked in 21 states along with hundreds of colleges nationwide. The Education Department is moving forward with enforcing the new rule in states and on campuses where it hasn’t been enjoined, despite another federal judge suggesting last week that the agency delay when the regulations take effect.
The new Title IX rule clarifies that the sex-based discrimination prohibited under the federal law also includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The states argued that the change undermines the original intent of Title IX. Sippel found that the “unambiguous plain language of Title IX and the legislative history support their position that the term ‘sex’ means biological sex,” reaching a similar conclusion as the other district judges who have issued injunctions.
