On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education announced the issuance of a final rule under Title IX to protect people in public schools from sex-based discrimination and harassment. The announcement marks a significant update in federal efforts to combat sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions. Photo: U.S. Department of State
School districts across the U.S. that don’t respect transgender and nonbinary students’ pronouns or force them to use restrooms that don’t align with their gender identity could be committing federal civil rights violations beginning this fall.
But the new regulations do not address the participation of transgender students on sports teams. The rule-making process for that regulation is still ongoing.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education announced the issuance of a final rule under Title IX to protect people in public schools from sex-based discrimination and harassment.
The announcement marks a significant update in federal efforts to combat sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions.
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Title IX is a federal law that was passed in 1972 to prohibit sex-based discrimination in schools. The law reads that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Title IX applies to schools that receive federal funding (including all school-sponsored programming such as athletics, field trips, and after-school clubs), local and state education agencies, and other institutions that receive federal financial assistance.
The new regulations will go into effect on Aug. 1.
During a call with reporters, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona emphasized the Biden administration’s dedication to ensuring that Title IX effectively serves all students by providing safe, welcoming, and rights-respecting educational environments.
“These regulations make it crystal clear that no one should have to abandon their educational aspirations due to discrimination, whether it’s based on pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other sex-based factors,” Cardona said.
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon detailed the specifics of the regulations, noting that they were developed after extensive engagement and feedback, including more than 240,000 public comments.
“These regulations are not just updates; they are an overhaul aimed at ensuring full protection under Title IX,” Lhamon explained.
The final regulations provide explicit protections for LGBTQ+ students, who often face significant challenges and discrimination in educational settings.
In the final rule, the Department of Education includes three major revisions that impact LGBTQI+ students:
- Protect against all sex-based harassment and discrimination. The final rule protects all students and employees from all sex discrimination prohibited under Title IX, including by restoring and strengthening full protection from sexual violence and other sex-based harassment. The rule clarifies the steps a school must take to protect students, employees, and applicants from discrimination based on pregnancy or related conditions. And the rule protects against discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
- Promote accountability and fairness. The final rule promotes accountability by requiring schools to take prompt and effective action to end any sex discrimination in their education programs or activities, prevent its recurrence, and remedy its effects. The final rule requires schools to respond promptly to all complaints of sex discrimination with a fair, transparent, and reliable process that includes trained, unbiased decisionmakers to evaluate all relevant and not otherwise impermissible evidence.
- Empower and support students and families. The final rule protects against retaliation for students, employees, and others who exercise their Title IX rights. The rule requires schools to communicate their nondiscrimination policies and procedures to all students, employees, and other participants in their education programs so that students and families understand their rights. The rule supports the right of parents and guardians to act on behalf of their elementary school and secondary school children. And the rule protects student privacy by prohibiting schools from making disclosures of personally identifiable information with limited exceptions.
The new rules align with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which recognized such forms of discrimination as violations of civil rights.
During the press call, The Advocate inquired about the specific protections for transgender students, particularly in light of recent anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments and policies in some Republican-controlled states.
Lhamon detailed the rule’s implications.
“The new rule puts in the regulation itself that discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation violates Title IX,” she said. “And if, in an investigation, we determine that a student is harassed based on gender identity and subject to a hostile environment that meets the standard in these new regulations, then we would be able to find a violation, and we would be able to ensure that the school comes into compliance under Title IX.”
Further discussions addressed how the regulations manage the usage of pronouns and access to facilities corresponding to a student’s gender identity.
“The way that we would analyze that question is to assess whether a student is experiencing a sex-based hostile environment… ,” Lhamon said. “And if the facts meet those standards, which is if, under the totality of the circumstances, sex-based conduct that is subjectively and objectively offensive to a student and to a person in the school community and it rises to the level that it limits or denies access to education, then a hostile environment would be recognized and we would evaluate whether the school had taken sufficient steps to remedy that hostile environment.”
The announcement of these regulations comes at a critical time, highlighted by recent tragic events such as the death of Nex Benedict, a transgender student in Oklahoma who took his life after being bullied. Nex’s death has spurred a federal civil rights investigation into Owasso Public Schools, examining whether the school’s response to harassment complaints was adequate.
The updated regulations protect all students and enhance protections against all forms of sex-based harassment and discrimination. They establish clear requirements for schools to take prompt and effective action to end any sex discrimination in their education programs or activities, prevent its recurrence, and remedy its effects.
Schools are also required to respond promptly to all complaints of sex discrimination with a fair, transparent, and reliable process that includes trained, unbiased decision-makers to evaluate all relevant and not otherwise impermissible evidence.
As schools prepare to implement the new regulations, the Department of Education will provide resources and technical assistance to ensure the new rules are understood and applied.
This article originally appeared on Advocate.com, and is shared here as part of an LGBTQ+ community exchange between Q Voice News and Equal Pride.
