Gender identity under Title IX
The Obama administration interpreted Title IX to cover discrimination on the basis of assigned sex, gender identity, and transgender status.
[5] Primary responsibility for Title IX enforcement in educational institutions was delegated to DOE's Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
[7] In an October 2010 "Dear Colleague" letter, the OCR issued guidance on clarifying that Title IX protects LGBT students from harassment on the basis of sex stereotypes.
"[9] Simultaneously with evolving subregulatory guidance, OCR started conducting enforcement actions under Title IX against school districts where discrimination against transgender students was alleged to have taken place.
Title VII has also been interpreted to encompass discrimination based on sex stereotypes, gender identity, and transgender status by the EEOC and many federal courts.
[10][12][13] On May 13, 2016, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and DOE issued joint guidance to educational institutions on the scope of Title IX, in the form of a Dear Colleague letter and an accompanying compendium of actual policies and practices, which had previously been enacted by state agencies and school districts throughout the U.S.[14][15][16] The guidance formalized the administration's previously stated view that Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and clarified that transgender students should therefore be treated consistent with their gender identity at school.
Head of the DOJ Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta expressed hope that the guidance would give transgender students "a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow.
"[18] Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign said that the guidance "sen[t] a message that every student deserves to be treated fairly and supported by their teachers and schools.
"[19] Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called on the federal government to take no position on discrimination against transgender students, which in his view should be an issue for the states.
Olson stated the legislation was in reaction to "the Obama Administration strongly [overreaching] by unilaterally redefining the definition of "sex" with respect to the Civil Rights Act outside of the lawmaking process."
In the case of bathrooms, however, long-standing regulations provide that separating facilities on the basis of sex is not a form of discrimination prohibited by Title IX.
"[22] In October 2018, The New York Times obtained a memo issued by the Department of Health and Human Services that would propose a strict definition of gender for Title IX, using the person's sex as assigned at birth and could not be changed, effectively eliminating recognition of transgender students and potentially others.
[24] Upon his inauguration on January 20, 2021, Biden issued an "Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation."
[38][39] The school board appealed to the Fourth Circuit, during which the Supreme Court ruled in Bostock v. Clayton County that discrimination against "sex" in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act includes both sexual orientation and gender identity.
Among the provisions of the Act is a requirement on North Carolina schools to prohibit transgender students from using bathroom and changing facilities corresponding to their gender identity.
[55]On May 25, 2016, eleven states sued to the federal government in the Northern District of Texas in at attempt to overturn the Dear Colleague letter and other administration efforts to protect transgender students under Title IX.
[56][57] Joining lead plaintiff Texas were the states of Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
[56] In their complaint, the plaintiff states alleged that by "rewriting" Title IX to cover discrimination on the basis of gender identity, the federal government had "conspired to turn ... educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights".
Dan Patrick urged schools to ignore the federal government's Title IX guidance and refuse to allow transgender students to use the facilities consistent with their gender identity.
One resident read a Facebook comment from a city council member that threatened to physically harm any student that tries to use the locker room that doesn't align with their biological sex.
During the hearing in Portland, Oregon, Herb Gray, a district attorney, claimed that the other students civil rights were being violated by forcing them to undress in front of someone of the opposite biological sex.
[67][68] The Boyertown, Pennsylvania school district implemented a policy in 2016 to comply with the Obama administration's guidance, allowing transgender students to use either restroom as they saw fit.
[72][73][74] In December 2022, sitting en banc, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that separating the use of male and female bathrooms in the public schools based on a student's biological sex doesn't violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.
[75][76] Previously, in August 2020, a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 2018 lower court ruling in Adams v. The School Board of St. Johns County, Florida that discrimination on the basis of gender identity is discrimination "on the basis of sex" and is prohibited under Title IX (federal civil rights law) and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
[77][78] On February 27, 2023, while ruling that Minnesota state law requires that a trans woman be allowed to compete as a female in powerlifting competitions, a Minnesota state court found that federal civil rights laws such as Title VII and Title IX prohibit discrimination "on the basis of sex," but, unlike the MHRA, do not explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation .
This justification solidly placed the responsibility upon all LGBTQ+ students to choose their educational institutions with full knowledge of their community standards and religious exemption status.
The private Quaker college first refused his request, and then applied for a religious exemption from Title IX through the Office of Civil Rights.
