The Universities of Wisconsin is suspending work on required changes to campus Title IX sex discrimination rules after a federal judge in Kansas blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from expanding the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity.
Attorneys and Title IX coordinators with the Universities of Wisconsin administration office have been working since April to bring Wisconsin’s campuses into compliance with federal changes to Title IX regulations that were announced by Biden’s U.S. Department of Education that month.
One of the most contentious changes to the federal rules is an expansion of Title IX protections against discrimination of students and employees who are pregnant, gay or transgender. When it was announced, the change was supported by LGBTQ groups like GLAAD, which called it “a huge step forward to ensure all young people can thrive at school” in a social media post. The organization also said there was still more to do, noting the new regulations did not address transgender athletes.
“Trans students who want to play sports should have the same opportunities to do so as all students,” the post said. “GLAAD will continue advocating for fairness and equal access for all, including trans youth.”
The definition of what counts as sexual harassment was also expanded by the Department of Education changes. At a July 8 special UW Board of Regents meeting, attorneys and Title IX coordinators told regents they expected the number of harassment complaints to increase in Wisconsin as a result.
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The new federal rules were set to go into effect Aug. 1, but a federal judge in Kansas issued an injunction July 2 applying to colleges in Kansas, Alaska and Wyoming. The injunction also applied to schools attended by members of the conservative group Young America’s Foundation, which is headed by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, and schools attended by children of members of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, which opposes school transgender policies and gender reassignment surgeries.
An analysis by Inside Higher Ed suggests hundreds of colleges across the U.S. are affected by the court ruling.
On Tuesday, a social media post from the Universities of Wisconsin announced it too “has suspended permanent and emergency rulemaking regarding Title IX” due to the federal injunction.
“The UWs remain ready to publish the rule and policies should the injunction be lifted. Our current rules and the 2020 Title IX federal regulations remain in effect,” the post said.
A UW spokesperson did not immediately respond to a WPR interview request. UW Board of Regents President Amy Bogost, whose firm Bogost Law LLC focuses on federal Title IX cases, also did not immediately respond to a WPR interview request.
The federal injunction was championed by the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, which is a party to the Kansas case, calling the Title IX changes from the Biden administration a “radical redefinition of sex” aimed at rewiring the nation’s education system.
“It means girls will be forced to undress in locker rooms and share hotel rooms with boys on overnight school trips, teachers and students will have to refrain from speaking truthfully about biological sex, and girls will lose their right to fair competition in sports,” said ADF Legal Counsel Rachel Rouleau in response to the July 2 injunction.
Conservatives around the nation have rallied behind efforts to undo school policies supporting transgender students and block transgender students from playing in school sports. In Wisconsin, Republicans passed a bill to restrict the right of transgender athletes to play on female sports teams, which was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
Over the past two years, a group of parents in Eau Claire represented by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty have sued unsuccessfully to undo an Eau Claire Area School District gender support plan. The parents claimed it violates their constitutional rights because it doesn’t require notifications if a student asks about changing their names and pronouns, using different bathrooms or playing on sports teams that match their gender identity. After having their case dismissed by a federal district court judge and a federal appeals court, WILL asked the U.S. Supreme Court for the right to sue to overturn the district’s policy.
During the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, former President Donald Trump touched on conservative culture war topics, including transgender athletes in school sports in his speech accepting the GOP’s nomination for this year’s presidential election.
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