(The Center Square) – A federal appeals court has ruled that the Biden administration can’t implement its Title IX rules in an additional four states, bringing the total number of statewide injunctions to 26.
With a recent block awarded in Oklahoma on Wednesday and then an emergency appeal granted by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, over half of the United States will be exempt from the Thursday deadline.
The new Biden administration rules add gender identity to prohibitions on sexual discrimination in Title IX, including requiring schools to allow students to use a bathroom and locker room that aligns with their gender identity.
Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina are the latest states where the Department of Education cannot implement the updated rules that expanded federal sex discrimination protections to cover gender identity and pregnancy.
“The Department is enjoined from enforcing the final rule adopted on April 29, 2024, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance…pending further order of this Court,” the court’s order reads.
The other 21 states where the Biden administration has been prohibited from implementing its rule expanding the definition of sex discrimination to include gender are Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
After the rule’s final implementation in April, the Biden administration was challenged by a spate of lawsuits from states, organizations and individuals arguing the rule was unconstitutional.
In the case led by Alabama, a lower court ruled against issuing a preliminary injunction on Tuesday, leading the coalition of states and organizations to file an appeal late into the evening. They asked the appellate court to issue an emergency block on the rule, citing its effects on students and schools.
“The Title IX rule not only immediately jeopardizes the rights and safety of students,” the request for an injunction reads. “But it also requires schools to digest the rest of the 423-page rule, update their policies, retrain their employees, figure out how to reconcile contrary state laws, and more. And the rule’s effective date is hours away.”
The Department of Education maintains that it is lawfully protecting students who are liable to face discrimination, including transgender students. The rules require schools to allow students to use a bathroom that aligns with their gender identity.
Critics say that it removes the protections created by the 1972 statute prohibiting sex discrimination in the nation’s academic institutions.
