So just as I was about to post this one, I heard the news that a federal judge had blocked the new Title IX rules (which went into effect in August). We revert back to the previous rules and see what changes will be proposed--if any--by the new administration.
In the spring, the National Women's Law Center held a virtual forum that I found helpful as some states had won injunctions against the new rules but others were proceeding. I am hoping the group will hold something similar soon as well provide guidance on how we should all be proceeding in efforts to guarantee protections to all students.
For now I am going to post a slightly edited version of what I had before the ruling.
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It was pretty clear back in April when the Biden administration released its changes to Title IX that included protections based on gender identity but did not include specific protections for or guidance regarding trans athletes, that the latter were not coming. As part of the revision process, draft regulations regarding all of the above had been published and opened for public comment. I wrote about the draft guidance for trans athletes at that time. [TLDR version: I found them vague and problematic.]
In the end, it did not matter. There was no way those changes about trans athletes were going to be released ahead of the election; not when this issue has become quite the panty twister/straw dog argument (and various other metaphors which cannot even reflect how outsized an issue this has become while still doing significant harm).
Even the changes guaranteeing protections for trans students, which went into effect in August have faced road blocks in the form of federal judges granting injunctions brought by state officials who did not want to follow the new rules. So some schools are following them and others are not.
What is to come in 2025? All these protections are going away, perhaps with a single signature. [UPDATE: this has happened based on the January 9 ruling of a federal judge in Tennessee.]
I have heard critiques of the Biden administration for failing to enact more fixed and certain protections for trans people. This is not untrue or unfair. Two things to remember. One, using Title IX to achieve some of those protections was never going to be a long-term solution. Every administration can change the guidelines and even this sympathetic administration was not going to be able to push through widespread protections because they do not have widespread support. This is one of the pitfalls of Title IX; it is subject to the social and political climate. (Yes, all laws and regulations are products of the culture of the moment; this one is easier to amend than others.)
Second, the loss of these protections are part of the larger attack on many minoritized peoples which this administration could not (or would not) stop or sometimes even address.
Is there hope? In the immediate future...I don't think so. But see above re so many people who are and will be subject to increased violence (emotional, physical, financial) and suffering. Can effective leaders emerge and engage in a movement based on solidarity? There is a lot of myth-busting and compassion generation that needs to happen. I don't know what the tipping point is for people to realize that trans issues are women's issues are Black issues are poverty issues are immigrant issues, but unless it comes soon...
There may be pockets of hope in terms of where one lives and thus the protection offered by one's state or federal judicial district. I imagine numerous legal battles ahead (which were going to happen regardless of who won or which guidelines were enacted). There will be another legal showdown over the definitions of sex and gender and possibly conflict among institutions that offer protections working with(in) ones that do not (i.e., colleges with anti-discrimination protections and the NCAA).
For now--and I hope to expand on this later--think about what you will do. What power do you have and how can you use it?
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