By Emma Alejandro
Staff Writer
The Department of Education set forth to revoke Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students previously established by the Biden administration, according to The Hill. This measure covers all K-12 public school districts and college universities across the U.S. that accept federal financial aid as outlined by the Library of Congress.
Family Equality reported that the change took effect on Sept. 29 without the proper 90-day public comment period, nullifying the 2024 rule and reverting to the 2020 rule implemented during Trump’s first term, according to EducationWeek.
Under the Biden administration, Title IX protections were expanded to address discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. However, The Hill reported that under the updated guidelines, only discrimination related to women’s rights and sports will be recognized.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon was quoted saying that reverting to the 2020 Trump-era interpretations of Title IX will help reduce “confusion for parents, students, and educational institutions.”
Numerous organizations have condemned the reversal including the Human Rights Campaign, Public Justice, the National LGBTQ Task Force, AFT, AAUW, and National Women's Law Center. They argued that the rollback will compromise student safety and undermine fundamental civil rights.
The National Women’s Law Center specifically warned that the change could weaken protections for student survivors of sexual harassment, pointing to the case of Jane Doe as an example of what could be at stake when schools fail to adequately protect students.
Yet, the rollback isn’t entirely unprecedented: the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX rule was already blocked by federal courts and vacated nationwide in January 2025, so most schools had already reverted to the 2020 regulations according to the Federal Register.
Even so, advocates emphasize that removing the Biden-era language matters because it eliminates the federal government’s explicit of sexual orientation and gender identity as forms of sex discrimination under Title IX. The National Women’s Law Center also argues that it dismantles protections for students facing sex-based harassment, including pregnant and parenting students.
The returning regulations also change how schools handle reports of sexual misconduct. According to The Advocate, the 2020 rules use a narrower definition of sexual harassment and provide additional procedural protections for students accused of misconduct, including live hearings in some college cases.
Cathy Renna, communications director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, said the rollback has “weakened protections for all students,” particularly transgender students, women and girls, and students who experience sexual harassment or sexual assault. The Advocate reported that Renna viewed the change as affecting protections beyond LGBTQ+ students alone.
The Human Rights Campaign also criticized the administration for putting the new regulations into effect without allowing the public to comment on the change.
HRC President Kelley Robinson argued that students, families and educators should have had a say in how schools respond to discrimination and sexual assault.
“Title IX is, quite simply, about protecting students and ensuring that they are safe from abuse, harassment, and discrimination while they pursue their education,” Robinson said. “But Donald Trump and his cronies aren’t interested in any of that…The fact that they’re dropping this rule…without a comment period, denying families, educators, loved ones and the students themselves a say in how they should be treated, shows how little they care about the safety of our students.”
She continued, “This is a monstrous injustice, and it drives home how essential it is that we take action at the polls this November to start bringing some accountability to an administration that has turned its back on the very students Title IX was written to protect.”
For LGBTQ+ students, the effects may depend heavily on where they live, according to Gothamist. In New York, for example, state education officials said the federal change does not remove existing state protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, which remain in place under state law.
NEW Pride Agenda executive director Kei Williams told Gothamist that the issue is personal for transgender students who may question whether their schools will take harassment seriously or allow them to participate fully in school life.
The practical consequences may therefore vary by state. While states such as New York maintain their own protections, the federal government’s decision changes the national standard schools receiving federal funding are required to follow under Title IX, according to both the Gothamist and Federal Register.
Despite the rollback, students have not lost Title IX entirely. The Advocate reported that students remain protected under the 1972 law itself, while individual schools can continue policies supporting LGBTQ+ students and survivors.
