Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has successfully petitioned to expand a court injunction against the Biden-Harris government’s attempts to impose changes to Title IX in contradiction of state anti-discrimination laws. The expanding court order now provides additional protections for women in Texas academic institutions, ensuring that biological males who claim to be female cannot claim protected status and use spaces reserved for women.
The Texas fight against the Title IX rule changes—which grant special status to transgender individuals and would force academic institutions receiving federal funds to allow biological males into spaces reserved exclusively for women—began with a Paxton-led lawsuit in June of 2023. A year later, the Texas Attorney General secured a major win against the Biden-Harris government, with a federal district judge ruling that “rewriting Title IX in a way that shockingly transforms American education” is unlawful.
Since the ruling, the Biden-Harris Department of Education has attempted several workarounds that would still impose the protected class status for transgender individuals despite being in contravention of Texas anti-discrimination laws, which protect female-only spaces. Last month, Paxton secured an injunction against an initial attempt by the Biden-Harris government to promulgate a new variation of their Title IX rule.
With today’s ruling, the judge expanded that injunction, effectively enjoining any future attempts by the Department of Education to change the statute to include provisions for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” while Paxton‘s lawsuit remains pending in the appeals process.
Paxton hailed the expanded injunction on Tuesday, stating: “This is a major win for protecting Texas and its students from any future attempt by the federal government to impose its unlawful interpretation of Title IX that puts women and girls at risk.”
