The Trump Administration Rolls Back Title IX Protections, Again

Key Points:

• The U.S. Department of Education has officially withdrawn Biden-era updates to Title IX that expanded protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity, reverting to previous Trump-era regulations that narrow the scope of sexual misconduct investigations.
• Title IX, originally enacted in the 1970s to ban sex discrimination in education, had been expanded under Biden to protect LGBTQ+ students, but the recent rollback reinstates a more limited interpretation focused on biological sex.
• Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated the changes aim to reduce confusion for stakeholders, though the department had already been enforcing the narrower rules prior to this formal withdrawal.
• Critics, including the National Women's Law Center, argue that the rollback weakens protections for trans students and undermines the law’s purpose of ensuring safe and inclusive educational environments for all students.
• The policy shift coincides with ongoing national discussions about campus sexual assault, highlighted by a recent lawsuit against Cornell University involving allegations of gang rape reported in 2024.