By Jessica Holdman
SCDailyGazette.com
A federal appeals court temporarily blocked changes to the Biden administration’s new Title IX rules in all South Carolina schools the day before changes were to go into effect, Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Wednesday. July 31.
More than half of all U.S. states, including South Carolina, filed or joined multiple lawsuits in the wake of the administration’s rewrite of federal regulations that prohibit sex-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding.
The latest ruling for South Carolina and three other Southeastern states means the new rule is temporarily blocked in all 26.
The new U.S. Department of Education Title IX rules, which schools were supposed to follow starting Thursday, add protections for LGBTQ+ students by extending the definition of sex discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
On Tuesday, a federal district court judge in Alabama struck down the attempt by Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to halt the new rules’ enforcement. But the states immediately appealed and were successful Wednesday in getting the rule paused by a federal appeals court as they continue to litigate the case.
“This is a big win in our fight to protect children,” Wilson said in a statement. “We’ve argued that the Biden administration does not have the authority to make this change, and with this temporary injunction, we now have time to make our case in court without our children being put in danger.”
Wilson previously expressed worries over the rule change stating, “biological boys and men that identify as female will be allowed to use girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. Students and teachers will also be required to use others’ ‘preferred pronouns.’”
South Carolina also is among 24 states that have passed laws preventing transgender student-athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
The Biden administration has yet to finalize a separate rule that would ban this practice.
The injunction issued by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, Wednesday follows a ruling earlier in July in a separate lawsuit in Kansas.
The Palmetto State was not a party to that lawsuit, which Alaska, Utah and Wyoming joined.
But the ruling applied to at least 25 South Carolina K-12 schools and colleges where students or their parents are members of organizations that did join that case, Wilson’s spokesman Robert Kittle previously told the S.C. Daily Gazette.
Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the S.C. Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier.
S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
