Biden administration loses 22 of 26 as federal judge blocks Title IX redo in Oklahoma

The Biden administration didn’t lose every state challenge to its final rule on Title IX, but it was close.

U.S. District Judge Jodi Dishman of the Western District of Oklahoma blocked the rule from taking effect in Oklahoma just hours before the sweeping rewrite adding “gender identity” to the civil rights law’s ban on sex discrimination in education takes effect.

In her Wednesday order granting the preliminary injunction, she said that the Biden administration’s rule “elevates gender identity and its accompanying protections above that of biological sex — i.e., women.”

“Such a contradiction of Title IX’s text and an erosion of its purpose cannot be permitted absent congressional action,” Judge Dishman, a Trump appointee, wrote in the 29-page decision.

All told, 22 of the 26 states who tried were able to win temporary reprieves from the Title IX overhaul before its Thursday implementation, an ill omen for the Biden administration as it seeks to defend its regulatory regime.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond praised the judge’s decision suspending what he called “the Biden Administration’s radical new rule that attempts to unravel longtime federal protections for students under Title IX.”

“This well-reasoned ruling helps to protect both female and male students from invasions of privacy and unnecessary harm,” Mr. Drummond said. “Our students deserve the protections that have long been provided by Title IX.”

I’m pleased the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma blocked the Biden Administration’s radical new rule that attempts to unravel longtime federal protections for students under Title IX. https://t.co/efhXR2zrTk

— Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond (@Okla_OAG) July 31, 2024

The Department of Education was hit with a slew of multi-state lawsuits shortly after unveiling in April the final rule, which extends Title IX’s anti-discrimination protections to “gender identity.”

As a result biological males who identify as female and vice versa would now be a protected class, raising privacy and safety concerns about women’s locker rooms, restrooms, and other sex-segregated spaces.

Six out of seven federal district courts halted the rule in 22 states. In addition, two federal courts of appeals upheld the lower-court orders.

The only ruling in the Biden administration’s favor came Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Annemarie Axon of the Northern District of Alabama, who denied the temporary injunction sought by Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, as well as the Independent Women’s Forum, Parents Defending Education, and Speech First.

“In short, although plaintiffs may dislike the department’s rules, they have failed to show a substantial likelihood of success in proving the department’s rulemaking was unreasonable or not reasonably explained,” Judge Axon, a Trump appointee, said in the 122-page decision.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall immediately appealed the decision to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We are surprised by the district court’s decision today to deny the State’s request to immediately halt Biden’s Title IX degradation,” Mr. Marshall said. “Fortunately, precedent is on our side.”

In addition to the 22 states, the federal courts paused the final rule in two school districts; at more than 670 universities, colleges and higher-education institutions; and in at least 2,000 K-12 schools in 45 states.

U.S. District Judge John Broomes granted a Title IX suspension to four states — Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming — as well as any U.S. school with a student whose parent belongs to Moms for Liberty, or any college with a member of Young America’s Foundation or Female Athletes United — which potentially could cover the whole country.

His order was open-ended, meaning that parents may still join Moms for Liberty, a nationwide organization with no membership fee, and add their schools to the list even after the Title IX rule is implemented.

“This court’s ruling did not state that it was limited to individuals who were members of a Plaintiff Organization on a certain date,” Judge Broomes, a Trump appointee, said in his July 19 ruling. “Individuals are free to join or leave an organization whenever they so choose.”