Another judge rules against Biden rule forcing schools to cater to trans students

(Daily Caller News Foundation) – A Texas federal judge on Thursday partially blocked the Biden administration’s expansion of civil rights law that would force schools to cater to transgender students.

Trump-appointed District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk granted a preliminary injunction on Thursday to Texas and two University of Texas at Austin professors blocking the Department of Education’s April rule. The rule prohibited “discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics” as part of sex-based protections under Title IX, according to the court files.

The final rule would have forced schools in Texas to allow “a transgender student access to a sex-separate facility or activity consistent with that student’s gender identity,” according to the court filings. Kacsmaryk ruled that the Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX was not consistent with the text of the statute, and blocked enforcement of the rule in Texas.

America First Legal Foundation and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit in May on behalf of the professors. The plaintiffs alleged that the rule would compel the professors to use “made-up” pronouns, allow crossdressing for teaching assistants, excuse students from class who are procuring an abortion, and hire teaching assistants who may have broken the law by shipping or receiving abortion pills or paraphernalia, according to America First Legal.

“The Final Rule inverts the text, history, and tradition of Title IX: the statute protects women in spaces historically reserved to men; the Final Rule inserts men into spaces reserved to women,” Kacsmaryk said in the ruling.

“Biden’s rule would have forced our schools to accommodate biological men on women’s sports teams and in female bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms, and required students and teachers to use incorrect pronouns,” Texas AG Ken Paxton said on X. “A federal judge has halted Biden’s rule pending a final ruling. It’s an honor to defend our State from Biden’s unlawful subversion of Title IX.”

In June, another Texas judge blocked the same rule, saying the Department of Education lacks the authority to “redefine “sex” in a way that conflicts with Title IX,” according to the June filing.

“We are reviewing this recent ruling. Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in a federally funded educational environment,” a Department of Education spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The Department crafted the final Title IX regulations following a rigorous process to realize the non-discrimination mandate of Title IX. The Department stands by the final Title IX regulations released in April 2024, and we will continue to fight for every student. While the appeals of previous rulings are pending, we have asked to allow the unchallenged provisions – the bulk of the final rule – to take effect in these states as scheduled on Aug. 1.”