The Biden administration’s controversial attempt to redefine the definition sexual discrimination in Title IX by adding gender identity and sexual orientation, was struck down Thursday by a Kentucky federal court.
Since the regulatory changes were introduced in April 2024, pushback has been received from Congress and via the courts. Several states, including Utah, sued to block President Joe Biden’s modifications from being implemented in schools.
The changes to Title IX by the Biden-Harris administration expanded protection for transgender students from discrimination, but critics worried it would limit women’s sports and female-only spaces. Last August, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled against the administration’s request to enforce certain portions of the modified Title IX immediately.
But on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves ruled in Cardona v. Tennessee, tossing out Biden’s Title IX changes nationwide. The decision was in response to a lawsuit brought by Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia.
Enacted in 1972 as part of a civil rights law, Title IX was designed to promote educational equality and ensure opportunities regardless of sex, protecting individuals from discrimination.
“As this Court and others have explained, expanding the meaning of ‘on the basis of sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ turns Title IX on its head,” Reeves’ ruling said.
“While Title IX sought to level the playing field between men and women, it is rife with exceptions that allow males and females to be separated based on the enduring physical differences between the sexes.”
Reeves also wrote in his ruling that the Department of Education had misused their authority by “bypass(ing) the legislative process and completely transform(ing) Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 through sweeping new regulations.” He also said the modifications overstepped teachers’ free speech rights by requiring them to use students’ preferred pronouns in the classroom.
“The plaintiffs reasonably fear that teachers’ (and others’) speech concerning gender issues or their failure to use gender-identity-based pronouns would constitute harassment under the Final Rule,” Reeves wrote. “Put simply, the First Amendment does not permit the government to chill speech or compel affirmance of a belief with which the speaker disagrees in this manner.”
Reactions to the Title IX ruling
The Department of Education did not immediately respond to the decision, according to The New York Times.
Maha Ibrahim, a senior attorney at Equal Rights Advocates, told the Times, “This opinion is an example of revisionist history, in writing, coming out of one of our federal courts.”
The judgment has provoked positive responses from many Republican politicians and activists:
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and an early critic of the Biden-Harris Title IX changes, reacted to the ruling Thursday and shared his opinion on X, saying, “Common sense is making a comeback in 2025.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti posted on social media that his state “successfully defended” both Title IX and the country, calling the Biden administration’s changes a “radical and unlawful rewrite!”
“The court’s ruling is yet another repudiation of the Biden administration’s relentless push to impose a radical gender ideology through unconstitutional and illegal rulemaking,” his post said.
All-American swimmer-turned-activist Riley Gaines, who competed against transgender athlete Lia Thomas while a senior at the University of Kentucky, has been one of the most outspoken critics of allowing transgender athletes in women’s sports. Gaines and more than a dozen other athletes filed a lawsuit against the NCAA last March, accusing the organization of violating Title IX.
Gaines posted on X after the ruling, “Huge win for girls and women everywhere!!! This morning, a federal court ruled in favor of reality. Biden’s Title IX rewrite has been vacated nationwide. Common sense is slowly returning,” adding that her suit against the NCAA is still “full steam ahead.”