Kansas judge blocks Biden's LGBTQ student protections in 4 more states
A federal judge in Kansas has blocked President Joe Biden's administration from enforcing new anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ students in four Republican-led states, saying it lacked authority to adopt such a regulation.
Tuesday's decision, opens new tab by U.S. District Judge John Broomes in Topeka followed rulings by two other judges blocking the U.S. Department of Education from implementing its new rule that interprets Title IX's bar against discrimination "on the basis of sex" as covering gender identity in 10 other states.
His ruling came in a lawsuit by Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming, who sued alongside three conservative activist groups including Moms for Liberty and a Christian student who objects to biological girls sharing bathrooms with transgender students or being forced to use the preferred pronouns of LGBTQ students.
A total of 26 Republican-led states have sued over the rule, which is set to take effect Aug. 1. Lawsuits by 12 other states challenging the rule remain pending and have yet to be ruled on.
The Education Department when it adopted the rule said it clarified that the prohibition against sex-based discrimination in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 also includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Education Department cited a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that a ban against sex discrimination in the workplace contained in a different law, Title VII, covered gay and transgender workers.