Republican lawmakers are celebrating after the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision Friday, denied the Biden administration’s emergency request to partially reinstate its new Title IX rules, which, if implemented, would protect against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.
“Unlike Democrats, Republicans know what a woman is, and we know Title IX was written to protect the rights of women,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote on social media platform X. “We applaud the Supreme Court keeping the lower courts’ injunction in place.”
“For now, the Court has stopped the Biden-Harris Administration’s attempts to undermine women’s rights and allow men to compete in women’s sports,” he added.
Title IX protects against sex discrimination in schools, and Biden finalized the new rule in April, which reinstituted Obama-era protections against sexual assault that were rolled back under former President Trump’s administration.
The new rule also included sexual orientation and gender identity within its discrimination protections for the first time, preventing schools from denying care or services to transgender or other members of the LGBTQ community.
“Glad the Supreme Court sided with Louisiana and other states to uphold the injunction on Biden-Harris’ terrible Title IX rule that would require institutions to allow biological males into female spaces like bathrooms and locker rooms,” Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) wrote on X.
The rule was set to go into effect on Aug. 1, but Republican state attorneys general moved for injunctions against implementing the rule in 10 states.
“Today, the Supreme Court delivered a victory for women and common sense. The Biden-Harris administration’s reckless attempt to redefine Title IX has been struck down,” Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) wrote in a post online. “We must protect the integrity of women’s sports and the privacy of our daughters.”
Lower courts have sided with those lawsuits, preventing the Department of Education from enforcing the rule in Tennessee, Louisiana and eight other Republican-majority states. The Supreme Court denied an emergency request to temporarily bypass those rulings Friday, as litigation is still pending in those cases.
“The Supreme Court just blocked the Biden-Harris push to redefine Title IX,” Republican Study Conference chair Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) wrote on X. “Women’s sports and our daughters’ privacy are non-negotiable. I applaud the court for standing firm on both.”
Many on the right have increasingly made arguments over transgender women, or those born as men, competing in women’s sports and using women’s bathrooms a culture war issue. The Human Rights Campaign, which pushed back on Republicans’ perceived lack of evidence to support their claims against the transgender community, has denounced their attacks as “based on discrimination rather than facts.”
“A huge win,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) wrote online. “SCOTUS ruled against the dangerous Biden-Harris rewrite of Title IX. Men shouldn’t be allowed in women’s sports or bathrooms.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also lauded the decision as a “great victory” for women, adding in a post on X, “I still can’t believe this is even an issue!”
Those in the LGBTQ community, especially youth, have increasingly reported negative mental health and suicidal ideation as more than 20 states have moved to restrict access to gender-affirming care and other rights.
Friday’s ruling was on an emergency motion, and the court cases against the new Title IX rule are still winding their way through the system — and could end up on the Supreme Court docket.
