The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday refused to allow President Joe Biden’s administration to enforce a crucial part of a new rule designed to protect LGBT students from discrimination in schools and colleges based on gender identity.
Ten Republican-led states had challenged this rule.
The justices denied the administration’s request to partially lift lower court injunctions that blocked the entire rule, which aimed to expand protections under Title IX—a law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs.
While the legal battle continues, these lower court decisions have prevented the U.S. Education Department from enforcing the rule, which was announced in April and scheduled to take effect on August 1, in Tennessee, Louisiana, and eight other states.
The administration had sought to restore a key provision that clarifies discrimination “on the basis of sex” to include sexual orientation and gender identity, along with numerous other provisions of the rule that do not address gender identity.
