According to Fox News, a federal judge in Texas today struck down the Biden administration’s new Title IX rule that says school districts must allow boys to use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms if they identify as such.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, said officials tried to re-write federal law barring sex discrimination in schools, applying it to LGBTQ students, Reuters reported. The ruling came amid a lawsuit filed by Texas’ Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“To allow Defendants’ unlawful action to stand would be to functionally rewrite Title IX in a way that shockingly transforms American education and usurps a major question from Congress,” wrote O’Connor;
Texas is one of 26 states, including Kansas, that have sued over the new Title IX rule that is scheduled to go into effect on August 1. Texas is in the Fifth Circuit, which also includes Louisiana and Mississippi. The Texas ruling doesn’t automatically apply to other states, but it increases the likelihood that other federal courts will stay the implementation of Biden’s Title IX rule pending the outcome of other lawsuits.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach says it would be “foolish and a waste of money” for Kansas districts to adopt policies to comply with the Title IX rule.
