The U.S. Department of Education sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to all K-12 schools and institutions of higher education in the country, advising educators and administrators that the department’s Office for Civil Rights will enforce the Trump Administration’s 2020 Title IX Rule.
Trump overturned the Biden Administration’s rules that allowed boys and men to take over female athletics in public schools and universities. A trend over the past few years has seen men who say they are women competing in women’s divisions and winning trophies.
The letter comes after 15 Republican attorneys general successfully challenged the Biden Administration’s 2024 Title IX rewrite, which the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky ruled was unlawful and, therefore, unenforceable in schools, colleges, and universities nationwide. The lawsuit was brought by Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Department of Education will return to enforcing Title IX protections on the basis of biological sex in schools and on campuses.Returning to the 2020 Title IX Rule also ends a serious threat to campus free speech and ensures much stronger due process protections for students during Title IX proceedings, the department said.
“The Biden Administration’s failed attempt to rewrite Title IX was an unlawful abuse of regulatory power and an egregious slight to women and girls. Under the Trump Administration, the Education Department will champion equal opportunity for all Americans, including women and girls, by protecting their right to safe and separate facilities and activities in schools, colleges, and universities,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor.
Rep. Jamie Allard of Eagle River has a house bill that would do the same thing in Alaska. HB 40 is her second attempt to get lawmakers to protect girls and women in sports. Last year, her bill passed the House but died in the Democrat-controlled Senate. She said she will continue to try to get the protections explicitly written into Alaska law.
“I appreciate the clarity coming from the U.S. Department of Administration and President Trump, but we know that executive orders and interpretations of law can be undone by the next administration. That is why it is so important to put this into law in very specific terms in Alaska, so that Alaska’s girl athletes will not have to compete unfairly against boys in competitions where boys have clear physiological advantages,” she said. “I hope my colleagues will allow HB 40 to be heard and that they will pass it this year.”
That may be a long-shot. Both the House and Senate are controlled by Democrats this year due to a number of Republicans joining them to put the entire Legislature in the hands of a party that has disrespected women and the intent of Title IX by Congress.
Resources pertaining to the Title IX Rule, now applicable again through Trump’s orders, can be read here.
Read the full Dear Colleague Letter here.