Proposed Title IX Transgender Sports Rules: The Biden Administration's Latest Move

The U.S. Education Department has proposed a change to Title IX that would prevent schools from broadly banning transgender students from participating in sports teams that align with their gender identity, rather than their assigned sex at birth. Title IX is a law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. The department has been working on this proposal for two years, and it would still give schools the flexibility to ban transgender athletes based on age and sport.

Advocates who have been fighting against state-level laws that broadly ban transgender students from sports teams that do not align with their assigned sex at birth have welcomed the proposed change. At least 19 states have passed such laws in the past three years. If enacted, the proposed change would make these policies illegal. However, the process of altering the law will be lengthy. The proposed changes will be published in the Federal Register in the coming weeks, followed by a 30-day public comment period. It will take several months or possibly even years for the rule to be changed or enacted.