Originally published at National Catholic Register
A Department of Education rule to ban discrimination against a person’s self-asserted “gender identity” in K–12 schools and colleges was blocked nationwide by a federal court in Kentucky on Thursday, Jan. 9.
The court’s decision to strike down the rule is being hailed as a major victory by opponents of the regulation. With President-elect Donald Trump heading into office in less than two weeks, an appeal from the federal government is highly unlikely, essentially rendering the rule dead.
The rule, implemented by President Joe Biden’s administration, reinterprets the Title IX ban on “sex” discrimination to include a ban on “gender identity” discrimination even though the phrase “gender identity” does not appear anywhere in the 1972 law.
Judge Danny C. Reeves of the District Court of the Eastern District of Kentucky ruled that the department “exceeded its statutory authority” in implementing the rule and found that the rule itself violates the United States Constitution because it would “chill speech” related to gender ideology and because it is “vague and overbroad” in how it is written.
The lawsuit against the Biden administration’s Title IX rule change was brought by attorneys general in six states: West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, and Virginia. State officials warned the
