The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the federal government’s request to narrow two injunctions issued by lower courts against transgender-friendly changes announced by the Biden administration.
The feds in April revealed changes to Title IX, the law that prohibits discrimination in government-funded education programs.
A Louisiana school district and other states had urged the justices to block the Biden administration’s request to protect Title IX while lower courts weigh whether the anti-discrimination law gives transgender students the right to use locker rooms and restrooms of their choice.
Under the federal government’s rule, a school would run afoul of the new rule for letting biological male students use female facilities, join female athletic teams, not use a preferred pronoun or express “offensive” views on same-sex marriage, transgender ideology or abortion.
States have challenged the Biden administration’s revision, and two lower courts, the Western District of Louisiana and the Eastern District of Kentucky, reasoned that states could likely succeed with their moves. Those rulings were upheld by the 5th and 6th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals. The 5th Circuit hears appeals from Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. The 6th Circuit hears appeals from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The courts issued a broad injunction that halted the Education Department from enforcing the rule in the states involved in the litigation.
But the department warned that the injunctions could block more of Title IX than intended, including provisions that protect record-keeping requirements and pregnant and postpartum students and employees.
At issue in the feds’ request was to implement the parts of the rule unrelated to the transgender policies that are pending before lower courts.
But the high court denied that. According to the Associated Press, the transgender provisions have been blocked in 25 states.
In its 5-4 order on Friday, a majority of the justices said the government did not meet its burden in showing the ability for some provisions of the rule to be implemented while the other transgender aspects are blocked.
“On this limited record and in its emergency applications, the Government has not provided this Court a sufficient basis to disturb the lower courts’ interim conclusions,” the court’s unsigned order read.
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, joined the court’s three Democratic appointees, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, in dissent.
They said they would have allowed the injunction to be narrowed in favor of the Biden administration, so the federal government can move forward with some aspects of its Title IX rewrite.
“Those injunctions are overbroad,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote.
The rule was to take effect August 1, prior to being blocked by lower courts.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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