A third judge has ruled against a new interpretation of Title IX set forth by President Joe Biden’s Education Department that adds gender identity as a protected class.
The latest preliminary injunction, issued Tuesday by federal Judge John Broomes of the U.S. District Court of Kansas, covers that state as well as Alaska, Utah, and Wyoming.
Broomes, a Trump appointee, joins two other federal judges who also recently granted injunctions halting enforcement of the Title IX revise, called the “Final Rule,” covering the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Idaho, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Biden’s rewrite of Title IX is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1. The change would allow female-identifying men into women’s locker rooms and bathrooms and require others to address them with their preferred pronouns.
This latest ruling hails from a lawsuit filed in May by Moms for Liberty and Young America’s Foundation, and it also covers “every school across the country attended by plaintiff Katie Rowland, the members of Female Athletes United, the members of Young America’s Foundation, and the minor children of the members of Moms for Liberty.”
While Judge Broomes stopped short of issuing a nationwide injunction, his decision effectively appears to cover most of the nation.
In his 47-page ruling, Broomes wrote he believes the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their claims that the Final Rule is contrary to law, exceeds statutory authority, is an unconstitutional exercise of legislative power, violates the First Amendment, and is arbitrary and capricious.
Broomes pointed out the new rule doesn’t properly define necessary terms for enforcement. He also wrote the new rule could hurt females forced to not say anything negative about the transgender movement or face repercussions, as well as require them to possibly share locker rooms and bathrooms with biological males.
🚨TODAY: A third court just put a stop to the Biden admin’s illegal Title IX rule.
The federal court’s ruling halts the Title IX changes from taking effect while the lawsuit State of Kansas v. U.S. Department of Education continues.
The injunction protects not only students in… pic.twitter.com/sL4RDPVm1v
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) July 2, 2024
“This is a victory for women everywhere whose voices will no longer be silenced by the Biden Administration’s illegal rewrite of Title IX,” former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, president of Young America’s Foundation, stated in a news release. “We will continue to stand for our students’ rights to proclaim biological truth and will cede no ground to the left’s lies. Soon, students can return to campus secure in the knowledge that they cannot be punished for what they believe.”
But the ruling is hailed by critics as a “blow” to transgender rights.
“The ruling is another blow to the Biden Administration’s efforts to protect LGBTQ rights,” Bloomberg reported. “Since the US Supreme Court held in 2015’s Obergefell v. Hodges that states can’t deny same-sex couples the right to marry, conservative litigators have defended transgender bathroom bans, athlete bans, and efforts to restrict gender affirming care for minors.”
Broomes joins two federal judges who in June ruled against the pro-transgender Title IX revise: Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana and Judge Danny Reeves of Kentucky.
MORE: Red-state universities silent on judges blocking Biden’s Title IX revise
IMAGE: Zolnierek / Shutterstock
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