February 13, 2025

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Court overturns protection for LGBTQ+ students: what next?


On January 9, 2025, U.S. District Judge Danny S. Reeves struck down a 1,500-page regulation expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students. The court ruled that it was “fatally” marred by legal shortcomings, reports CNN.

It's about the rules Title IXdeveloped and approved by the administration Biden. Those rules have already been suspended in 26 states after a wave of legal challenges from Republican states. Courts in those states ruled that the rules exceeded the president's authority.

President-elect Donald Trump previously promised to cancel the rules “from day one” and made anti-transgender issues a centerpiece of his campaign. Cancellation of preferences for LGBTQ-Communities was adopted in response to a lawsuit filed by Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.

Prosecutor General Tennessee Jonathan Scrmetti called it in a statement “a victory for protecting girls’ privacy in locker rooms and showers, and for the freedom to use biologically accurate pronouns.”.

Administration actions Biden caused controversy when it was expanded last year Title IX 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. The section was amended to prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. The definition of harassment was also revised to include a broader range of misconduct.

Civil rights advocates hailed it as a victory, saying it gave students LGBTQ+ a new way to protect against discrimination. However, it sparked outrage from conservatives who argued it could be used to protect transgender athletes in women's sports.

The rule did not directly address sports and mainly detailed how schools and colleges should respond to cases of discrimination and sexual violence. A separate proposal addressing transgender athletes in sports was shelved and later scrapped after becoming the centerpiece of the campaign. Trump.

The judge also ruled that requiring teachers to use pronouns that match students' gender identities violates the right to free speech.

“The First Amendment does not allow the government to restrict free speech or force the affirmation of beliefs with which the speaker does not agree.”,” Reeves wrote.

Rather than cutting certain aspects of the rule, Reeves decided it was best to scrap the new interpretation of the rules entirely and revert to the previous version Title IX. He noted that his decision “will simply lead to a return to the status quo”which existed more than 50 years before the date of its entry into force.



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