ED delays new Title IX regs to October
The U.S. Education Department (ED) plans to delay the release of its final Title IX rule until October, including its proposed athletic regulations. They were initially supposed to be ready in May or June.
ED said in a blog post on Friday that it received more than 240,000 public comments on the proposed rule, nearly twice as many comments as it received during its last rulemaking on Title IX. That includes more than 150,000 comments on the athletics reg for the public comment period that ended May 15.
The proposed regulation does not prohibit an educational institution from limiting or denying a transgender athlete’s participation on a team consistent with their gender identity, but it would prevent the institution from issuing a blanket ban on such participation. The regulations would therefore clash with laws enacted in several states that ban outright transgender athletes’ participation on teams consistent with their gender identity.
Conservative groups called the delay a win. Earlier this month, 25 Republican governors urged the Biden administration in a letter to forgo or delay the implementation of a proposed rule that they argued could prevent states from enforcing statutes enacted to protect fairness in women’s and girls’ sports.
