The Supreme Court has blocked the Biden administration from enforcing parts of a regulation on sex discrimination in education that includes protections for transgender students. The Court rejected the administration’s request to allow less contentious parts of the regulation to go into effect in states where it has been challenged, pending resolution of the contentious transgender issues in lower courts. The parts of the regulation allowing transgender students to use restrooms corresponding with their gender identity and requiring the use of preferred pronouns remain on hold in affected states.
The regulation also includes provisions for pregnant and postpartum students and employees, such as access to lactation spaces and restrooms. A total of 26 states challenged the rule, with 22 obtaining lower court rulings preventing its enforcement. The Supreme Court action focused on challenges in Kentucky and Louisiana, where federal judges had blocked the entire regulation. The administration argued that gender identity protections under Title IX should remain in place based on a previous Supreme Court ruling. The challengers countered that the entire regulation should be blocked due to its impact on all areas of sex discrimination.
The Solicitor General argued that the lower court judges were wrong to block provisions not specifically challenged by the plaintiffs. The Supreme Court decision affects only states where the regulation was challenged, while those that did not challenge it remain covered by the rule. Liberal Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Brown Jackson dissented, arguing that the injunctions on the regulation were overly broad and burdensome to the government.
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