Idaho Joins Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana in Suit Over Radical New Title IX Rule

[BOISE] -Today, the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI) and the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, and Idaho filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (Monroe Division), challenging the Biden administration's final Title IX regulations. Published today, the regulations unlawfully rewrite Title IX to undermine its very purpose and to erode constitutionally and statutorily protected rights, to the injury of students, teachers, parents, and schools.

"I am very concerned about the Biden Administration's twisting of Title IX," said Attorney General Raúl Labrador. "The new definition of discrimination that includes gender identity will have a profound impact on the progress Title IX has made for girls and women in our society. With a single act, the Biden Administration threatens decades of progress and opportunities for our females, while also subjecting them to the indignity of exposure to males in their locker rooms and bathrooms. For those and many other reasons, the new rule plainly violates Title IX, and we are confident we will prevail on our challenge in court."

The U.S. Department of Education's new regulations contradict the text and purpose of Title IX by expanding the law, which prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of "sex," to include "gender identity." To add to the confusion of the rules, the Department does not fully define the term "gender identity," which puts educational institutions in the untenable, damaging position of deciphering what the Department means. Sex-separated intimate facilities, such as restrooms, showers, and locker rooms, are now prohibited-a violent deviation from Title IX and years of agency interpretation and enforcement practice. The regulations will also lead to violations of religious liberty and free speech rights that will damage students, teachers, and schools.