Politics
JUST IN: Biden-Harris Administration Suffers Brutal Defeat In Federal Court
On Thursday, a federal district court in Kentucky delivered a significant blow to the Biden administration’s controversial attempt to expand Title IX protections to include gender identity. On April 29, the administration proposed new rules requiring schools to disregard biological distinctions between men and women, sparking legal challenges from several states, women’s groups, athletic associations, and school boards. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys joined the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Indiana, and West Virginia in a lawsuit that led to a federal district court ruling in Kentucky blocking the rule.
The court sided with the plaintiff states, declaring the Department of Education’s reinterpretation of the 1972 law unconstitutional and beyond the agency’s authority. The case, State of Tennessee v. Cardona, challenged a sweeping Final Rule issued by the Department of Education that sought to redefine “sex” under Title IX to include “gender identity,” along with sexual orientation and other classifications. The court declared the administration’s action an overreach, stating that “discrimination on the basis of sex means discrimination on the basis of being a male or female,” and that redefining “sex” to include “gender identity” “turns Title IX on its head.”
ADF’s client, a 15-year-old female track-and-field athlete from West Virginia, was forced to compete against a male athlete who displaced her from championship opportunities, gained access to the girls’ locker room, and directed vulgar comments toward her. Judge Danny C. Reeves, who presided over the case, ruled decisively in favor of the states, calling the new regulations an unlawful overreach. “Because the Final Rule and its corresponding regulations exceed the Department’s authority under Title IX, violate the Constitution, and are the result of arbitrary and capricious agency action, the plaintiffs’ motions for summary judgment will be granted and the Department’s motion for summary judgment will be denied,” Judge Reeves stated in the ruling.
The decision vacates the rule entirely, returning the interpretation of Title IX to its original intent of protecting against discrimination based on biological sex in education and athletics. The court said the critical distinctions between Title IX and Title VII, noting that “expanding the meaning of ‘on the basis of sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ turns Title IX on its head.” Judge Reeves underscored that Title IX was specifically designed to promote equality between men and women, a goal undermined by the administration’s attempted redefinition.
The Biden administration cited the Supreme Court’s Bostock v. Clayton County decision as a legal basis, but the court firmly rejected this rationale, noting the ruling pertained exclusively to employment discrimination under Title VII, not educational settings covered by Title IX. “But this approach simply does not make sense. Confirming the arbitrary nature of these new regulations, the Department has offered no rational explanation for the stark inconsistencies that will result if the Final Rule is allowed to go forward,” Reeves wrote.
ADF, which represented the Christian Educators group, called the ruling “a colossal win for women and girls across the country.” ADF CEO, President, and General Counsel Kristen Waggoner said in a statement, “The Biden administration’s radical attempt to redefine sex not only tossed fairness, safety, and privacy for female students out the window, it also threatened free speech and parental rights. With this ruling, the federal court in Kentucky rejected the entire Biden rule and the administration’s illegal actions.”
“This ruling provides enormous relief for students across the country, including our client who has already suffered harassment by a male student in the locker room and on her sports team,” Waggoner continued. “The U.S. Supreme Court can further protect girls like our client by granting cases brought by the ACLU against West Virginia and Idaho laws that protect women’s sports.”