Former President Donald Trump announced on Friday that if re-elected in November, he would swiftly reverse transgender student protections implemented by the Biden administration in April. These protections were part of new Title IX regulations that aim to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and educational programs receiving federal funding.
In an interview on “Kayal and Company,” a conservative talk radio show in Philadelphia, Trump stated that he would rescind these protections on “day one” of his presidency. “We’re gonna end it on day one,” he said, emphasizing that the changes made by President Biden were enacted through executive orders and could therefore be easily overturned by a new administration. “Tell your people not to worry about it,” he told the show’s hosts, suggesting that these protections would be nullified as soon as he took office.
The Biden administration’s 2021 executive order mandated that schools receiving federal funding must ensure an educational environment free from discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. This led to the Education Department’s overhaul of Title IX, broadening the law’s scope to include protections for transgender and non-binary students.
Trump’s comments signal a broader conservative push against transgender rights, with the former president previously promising to enact policies such as a nationwide ban on transgender student-athletes competing according to their gender identity and a federal law recognizing only two genders. He has also pledged to penalize healthcare providers who administer gender-affirming care to minors.
While Title IX is a federal law, the implementation and interpretation of its regulations often vary with different administrations, impacting schools that rely on federal funding. Republican governors, attorneys general, and education officials in several states have vowed to reject the Biden administration’s expanded protections for transgender students. Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders ordered state education officials to defy the new regulations, even threatening legal action against the Biden administration for any potential financial repercussions due to non-compliance.
On top of that, a group of Republican-led states filed lawsuits against the Biden administration, arguing that the new Title IX rules undermine federal protections for non-transgender students and misuse the reasoning from a 2020 Supreme Court ruling related to workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
