LGBTQ Agenda: Advocates say they blocked Title IX rule change from Energy Dept., for now

Advocates are hailing a victory in the fight against the Trump administration’s agenda to eliminate Title IX protections for transgender students. The rules would’ve applied to schools that get federal funds – but interestingly, would have come from the Department of Energy. 

Specifically, advocates are taking credit for a delay of the implementation of new rules that would’ve eliminated those protections, and for the fact that the forthcoming rules will have to respond to their critiques. 

Asked why that’s the case, Kel O'Hara, a genderqueer, bisexual, queer person who is a staff attorney at Equal Rights Advocates, said, “It’s the question everyone’s been asking.”

“The short version is that various administrative agencies are responsible for enforcing Title IX, and other civil rights laws, if they provide relevant federal funding,” O’Hara said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “In the case of the Department of Energy, they are providing funding in a lot of cases to various campus initiatives that have to do with energy in some way, so that’s why it applies, because the Department of Energy issues grants to schools. It’s not the primary agency schools are supposed to go to, but they provide federal funding.”

The department announced July 15 that due to “significant adverse” public comments, the effective date of the rule – which would as one consequence ban trans students from school sports corresponding to their gender identities – was delayed from July 16 to September 12.

“Because DOE subsequently received significant adverse comments on that direct final rule, DOE is extending the effective date to consider comments submitted in response to the direct final rule,” the department stated in its announcement. 

Equal Rights Advocates credits this to its campaign to have people send comments to the Department of Energy about their thoughts regarding the proposed final rule.

O’Hara said, “If there are significant adverse comments received, the rule has to be withdrawn or they need to issue a final rule that responds to the adverse comments.”

The Department of Energy must now either rescind the rule entirely or issue a new final rule that addresses the significant adverse comments by September 12. 

“Unless significant continued opposition is maintained, these sweeping changes could still take effect in September, making it critical that civil rights organizations, advocates, and the public continue to submit formal opposition to prevent this backdoor elimination of student protections,” Equal Rights Advocates stated in a news release. 

“This victory demonstrates that when civil rights organizations and the public unite, we have the power to successfully push back against this administration,” O’Hara stated "The Trump administration tried to exploit an obscure regulatory loophole meant only for minor administrative updates to gut fundamental protections for female athletes and transgender students. Public outcry has forced them to retreat from this calculated assault on both civil rights and democratic transparency.”

The Trump administration already construes Title IX, the 1972 civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in federally-funded education programs, to ban trans student athletes from competing on teams aligning with their gender identities. 

Earlier this month, the federal Department of Justice filed a civil rights lawsuit against California on the matter, claiming the Golden State’s policies on trans participation in sports “ignore undeniable biological differences between boys and girls, in favor of an amorphous ‘gender identity.’ The results of these illegal policies are stark: girls are displaced from podiums, denied awards, and miss out on critical visibility for college scholarships and recognition,” according to the civil complaint.

The complaint also pointed out remarks by California Governor Gavin Newsom, in which he blamed California's policy requiring trans female student athletes to be allowed to play on women's sports teams to a bill signed by his predecessor, former governor Jerry Brown. Newsom also said he was “completely aligned” with conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk on the matter when the two spoke on Newsom’s podcast earlier this year.

The Biden administration was in the process of applying Title IX to protect transgender student athletes’ participation in sports aligning with their gender identities, but quietly withdrew this after the 2024 presidential election, which Trump won.

Among those who issued public comments against the Energy Department’s proposed rule change were the San Francisco-based National Center for LGBTQ Rights and Boston-based GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, which sent in comments June 13.

The letters from NCLR and GLAD stated, “This regulation [Title IX] has operated to help increase girls’ and women’s participation in fields of study where they have been historically underrepresented. These gaps still exist today, such as in STEM career fields where women constitute only 28% of the workforce. Similarly, men remain underrepresented in fields such as nursing and early education. This regulation has supported lawful efforts to encourage broader educational participation across all genders in areas such as these.”

However, the Trump administration’s proposed change “constitutes a deeply flawed and unjustified rollback of a vital civil rights protection. It undermines the foundational principle of Title IX – that all students, regardless of sex, have the right to equal educational opportunities – and it contradicts decades of consistent federal policy,” the letters stated.

People interested in submitting comments should mail Energy Secretary Chris Wright and David Taggart, the general counsel of the department, at GC-1, 1000 Independence Ave, SW Washington, D.C. 20585-0121.

LGBTQ Agenda is an online column that appears weekly. Got a tip on queer news? Contact John Ferrannini at [email protected].