Biden Administration Moves To Enact Changes To Title IX—Including Banning Schools And Universities From Discriminating Against Transgender Students

The Biden administration has a lot to deal with right now due to rising inflation costs and the increasing calls for gun reform—but now, they are tackling a new set of provisions to directly protect transgender students. In a recent announcement, the Biden administration has proposed a new set of rules underneath Title IX that would formally ban schools and universities from discriminating against transgender students nationwide.

@NYTimes reports, as today marks the 50^th anniversary of Title IX, the Biden administration has proposed a host of new changes that would permanently ban schools, colleges and universities from any form of discrimination of transgender students. Additionally, the Biden administration is also moving to enact new rules about how schools respond to sexual discrimination—which would undo a previous policy underneath the Trump administration. Citing that the current rules“weakened protections for survivors of sexual assault and diminished the promise of an education free from discrimination,” the president’s advisors are hoping this proposed move will ensure the safety and security of transgender students nationwide.

While the Biden administration has a list of new rules that would be implemented, one of the major changes would be the inclusion of the specifics of sex-based harassment that would include, “stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.” There would also be an expansion on the definition of what constitutes as sexual harassment—with further expansion on the types of episodes, such as incidents reported outside of their educational programming, that schools are obligated to investigate.

Education Secretary Miguel A. Cardona, spoke about the proposed changes to Title IX, saying “Our proposed changes would fully protect students from all forms of sex discrimination. [“And the new rule would] make it clear, those protections include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

However, before any of Biden’s changes can take effect, they would first go through a lengthy public comment period and go up against a likely intense fight with conservative state and federal lawmakers.

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