"Federal judge strikes down Biden’s pro-LGBT Title IX rules nationwide"

"Outgoing Joe Biden’s controversial pro-LGBT Title IX rules were an illegal breach of his lawful authority, U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves ruled on Thursday in a decision striking down the policy nationwide.

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) under Biden issued a guidance to educators that its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) interprets Title IX, the longstanding set of rules against sex discrimination in public education, to also cover 'sexual orientation and gender identity' and will 'fully enforce' this interpretation 'in education programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the Department.'

In February 2024, the DOE submitted to the U.S. Office of Management & Budget (OMB) a finalized Title IX rule, later published in April, that expanded the federal government’s prohibition against 'discrimination' to now include under its umbrella so-called 'discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.'

Critics have warned it has broad ramifications for sex-specific restrooms, lockers, and athletic programs, speech and conscience rights, and more; and multiple states and groups sued the administration over the matter, prompting several judges to side against the Biden administration in several jurisdictions.

The Associated Press reports that Reeves found the move broadened the scope of Title IX beyond its legislative intent, accusing the White House of an 'attempt to bypass the legislative process and completely transform Title IX' as well as to 'chill speech or compel affirmance of a belief with which the speaker disagrees in this manner,' in violation of the First Amendment.

The ruling frees every school in the nation from a federal requirement to conform to LGBT ideology and strikes down a set of rules that returning President Donald Trump had pledged to reverse by executive order."