Federal judge blocks updated Title IX rule in Arkansas lawsuit

A Missouri federal judge on Wednesday halted implementation of a Biden administration rule that extends protections for LGBTQ students. (Photo via Getty Images)

A Missouri federal judge on Wednesday halted implementation of a Biden administration rule that extends protections for LGBTQ students, adding to the number of U.S. courts that have issued similar orders.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel of the Eastern District of Missouri came in a lawsuit filed on May 7 by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin and the attorneys general of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota.

Sippel’s order enjoins the U.S. Department of Education, Education Secretary Miquel Cardona and others from “implementing, enacting, enforcing or taking action in any manner to enforce” the nondiscrimination rule promulgated by the department that was set to take effect on Aug. 1. The order halts implementation of the rule until final resolution of the lawsuit.

Reynolds, Bird applaud ruling

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird cheered the ruling in separate statements on Thursday.

Reynolds, who has signed legislation restricting transgender youth’s use of school restrooms and transgender athlete’s participation in school sports, described the rules as an “attempt to apply Title IX protections intended for girls to biological boys who identify as girls.”

She added:  “The definitions of ‘sex’ and ‘gender identity’ are different, just as biological males and females are different. I’m proud that Iowa is part of this lawsuit and I’ll never stop defending the rights of women of all ages.”

Bird said the ruling “delivers a major blow to the Biden-Harris Administration’s war on women and protects young women all across the country.”

“No schoolgirl should be robbed of the opportunity to compete and succeed in the sports they love or be forced to share restrooms and shower spaces with boys,” Bird stated. “I will continue fighting protect opportunity and privacy for young women across the country and to make this win permanent.”

Although the rule protects all students from nondiscrimination based on sex in educational activities and programs, opponents have focused on the extension of the protections to transgender students.

At a May press conference announcing the lawsuit, Griffin, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and a 15-year-old Jonesboro-area student athlete who is a named plaintiff focused on that aspect of the rule.

In a statement Wednesday, Griffin said Sippel’s “ruling is a victory for women and girls in Arkansas and across the nation.”

“Congress enacted Title IX to protect and promote educational opportunities for women and girls,” Griffin said, focusing again on fears that transgender girls would be allowed into women’s and girl’s locker rooms and onto girls’ sports teams.

The ruling “also protects teachers, administrators, and students from the threat of investigation or sanction for disagreeing with the gender ideology of the Biden-Harris White House. And it comes just in time before the start of the new school year,” Griffin said.

The lawsuit filed by Arkansas and the five other states argued the education department has exceeded its authority by rewriting the statute. It also claimed the rule violates the First Amendment, is arbitrary and capricious by going against “decades” of understanding of Title IX and presents “an actual controversy” by redefining “sex” to include gender identity.

Sippel’s ruling notes that his decision is consistent with other federal courts that have also blocked implementation of the Title IX rule. More than two dozen Republican attorneys general have sued over the rule and at least two federal appeals courts have upheld lower court rulings similar to the one issued Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana issued a temporary injunction on June 14 that blocks the updated Title IX policy from taking effect Aug. 1 in Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld that order.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati also upheld a district court injunction against the Title IX rule affecting 20 states, including Oklahoma.

On Monday, the Biden administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily put on hold a portion of two injunctions issued by federal trial courts in Louisiana and Kentucky that affected 10 states, according to SCOTUSblog. Federal appeals courts in New Orleans and Cincinnati rejected the Department of Education’s request to allow it to temporarily enforce the rule, except for two provisions targeting discrimination against transgender students while its appeals continued.

This story was originally published by Arkansas Advocate, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and X.

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