US judge upholds protections for LGBTQ students in first win for Biden

[Lori Dee]

US judge upholds protections for LGBTQ students in first win for Biden administration
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Reuters - Daniel Wiessner
July 30, 20244:42 PM MDT

A federal judge in Alabama on Tuesday refused to block the Biden administration from enforcing new anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ students in four Republican-led states, breaking with six other judges who have said the rules are invalid.

U.S. District Judge Annemarie Axon in Birmingham in a 122-page ruling, rejected various arguments that the four states led by Alabama made in challenging U.S. Department of Education regulations that say a federal law barring sex discrimination in education extends to gender identity.

The regulations also bar harassment against LGBTQ students, such as refusing to use a transgender student's preferred pronouns, and changes the procedures schools must use in investigating accusations of student misconduct.

A total of 26 Republican-led states have sued over the rule, which is set to take effect on Thursday. Six other judges have blocked the rule from being enforced in 21 of those states pending the outcome of underlying lawsuits.

Axon on Tuesday said nothing in Title IX limits the definition of sex to biological sex, and that the Education Department's interpretation of the law was reasonable in light of the Bostock decision.

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