Supreme Court declines to force states’ implementation of new Title IX rule

By Laura Erlanson - Posted at Baptist Press:

Published August 19, 2024

WASHINGTON (BP) – The Supreme Court on Friday (Aug. 16) rejected an emergency request from the Biden Administration that would have required the enforcement of new Title IX regulations released in April of this year.

The rule, called “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance,” expands the definition of “sex” in Title IX’s language to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any educational program or institution that receives federal funds.

Opponents of the new rule, including the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, argued that the rule would remove protections women have previously enjoyed from Title IX by allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports and by prohibiting sex-segregated spaces like bathrooms and locker rooms.

“The Court’s move to keep this ban in place is correct,” said Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Brent Leatherwood.

“To threaten the loss of funding for a school’s refusal to acquiesce to the redefinition of sex and gender is the height of arrogance by the Department of Education. The downside is that it is only in effect for 26 states, forcing families and communities in the rest of the nation to move forward in facing this harmful Biden regulation,” Leatherwood told Baptist Press in written comments.

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