The United States Department of Education has announced that it is rescinding protections for LGBTQ+ students under Title IX.
The department is going back to the Title IX code as held under the previous Trump administration in 2020. Under Biden, the Title IX interpretation gave sex-based discrimination protections to students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Trump 1.0’s interpretation seeks to “protect women’s sports,” according to the department.
“Thanks to today’s action, the published Title IX regulations faithfully reflect court orders and Congressional intent — reducing confusion for parents, students, and educational institutions. We will continue to relentlessly champion equal opportunity for all Americans and hold accountable any school or college that violates the rights, privacy, or athletic opportunities of our women and girls,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.
The move is another sign of what many call an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. On the first day of his second attempt at the presidency, Trump issued an executive order declaring that the federal government will only recognize two sexes, male and female, based on reproductive cells, and rescinded prior equity and diversity orders.
Less than a month after his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order entitled, “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports,” with the purpose of banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.
“If you let men take over women’s sports teams or invade your locker rooms, you will be investigated for violations of Title IX and risk your federal funding,” he said at the February 2025 signing.
Since then, Trump’s Supreme Court has consistently ruled in his favor as it relates to LGBTQ+ issues.
Opponents of the rollback say that the policy change could not only harm transgender athletes, but survivors of sexual assault as well.
“Sexual harassment and assault continue to be pervasive in schools and, to the fullest extent possible, we should be working to enforce the laws that protect student survivors of sexual violence,” Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center, told The Hill. “Yet, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Trump administration have decided to ignore what survivors need, instead weaponizing Title IX to attack trans students.”
