Federal Ruling Blocks Biden Title IX Protections, Threatens Rights of LGBTQI+ Students Nationwide

January 9. 2025

For Immediate Release
Jan 9, 2025

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

On January 9, 2025, the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky vacated the Biden Administration’s 2024 Title IX regulations. The Eastern District’s ruling, which halts all enforcement of the Biden Title IX regulations, puts students at even greater risk of discrimination. 

Despite today’s harmful ruling, students still have protections from sex-based discrimination—including gender-identity discrimination—under Title IX.

The Biden Administration’s Title IX regulations went into effect August 1, 2024. The regulations expanded protections against harassment and discrimination for student survivors, LGBTQI+ students, and pregnant and parenting students. But shortly after its release, the regulations were temporarily blocked from taking effect due to lawsuits filed in approximately 26 states and several individual schools across the country.

This new Kentucky ruling may also result in dismissal of Title IX complaints filed in states and schools not impacted by the lawsuits filed to block enforcement of the Biden Administration’s regulations.

Despite today’s harmful ruling, students still have protections from sex-based discrimination—including gender-identity discrimination—under Title IX, and Equal Rights Advocate will continue to fight for those rights to be upheld. Schools must comply, at a minimum, with the Department of Education’s previous Title IX regulations, amended in 2020 under the Trump Administration. 

ERA’s Student Survivor Toolkit contains information from those regulations to assist students in understanding their rights. If you have questions or need help understanding your rights, please contact our Advice & Counsel helpline.