In the Trump administration's latest anti-transgender action, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education Friday announced a Title IX Special Investigations Team to investigate what they call “the pernicious effects of gender ideology in school programs and activities.” By that they mean acceptance of transgender students, and LGBTQ+ organizations are condemning the move.
Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.
In a press release, they claimed they have received “a staggering volume of Title IX complaints.” Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 bans sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding. Democratic administrations have interpreted it to include discrimination based on gender identity, but the current administration has adopted a strict binary definition of sex as assigned at birth.
The effort is in keeping with Donald Trump’s executive order with the binary definition of sex, erasing trans, nonbinary, and intersex people, and his “No Men in Women’s Sports” order, threatening loss of federal funding to any school that allow trans girls and women to compete in female sports.
“Protecting women and women’s sports is a key priority for this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in the press release. “This collaborative effort with the Department of Education will enable our attorneys to take comprehensive action when women’s sports or spaces are threatened and use the full power of the law to remedy any violation of women’s civil rights.”
“Today’s establishment of the Title IX SIT will benefit women and girls across this nation who have been subjected to discrimination and indignity in their educational activities,” added Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “From day one, the Trump Administration has prioritized enforcing Title IX to protect female students and athletes. Traditionally, our Office for Civil Rights (OCR) takes months, even years, to complete Title IX investigations. OCR under this Administration has moved faster than it ever has, and the Title IX SIT will ensure even more rapid and consistent investigations. To all the entities that continue to allow men to compete in women’s sports and use women’s intimate facilities: there’s a new sheriff in town. We will not allow you to get away with denying women's civil rights any longer.”
"This sounds like another incoherent and baseless plan with the potential to waste untold taxpayer resources to pursue an unhinged agenda of animus," a GLAAD spokesperson told The Advocate. "In Maine, no fewer than six federal agencies reportedly swarmed the state over two transgender students. This is so far out of whack with what states need to help every student and community succeed. Targeting a handful of athletes does nothing to protect women and girls, in fact, these bans endanger girls as they risk invasive genital exams and other expensive 'verification.' It makes no sense, and it is harmful. Every student and school is safer when the most vulnerable students are protected and respected."
Advocates for Trans Equality issued this statement: "The Trump administration’s new Title IX investigation team is an overreach of governmental power, aimed at excluding trans women and girls from sports and facilities under the guise of protecting fairness. This effort, doing nothing to promote safety or inclusion, distorts the purpose of Title IX, which was meant to protect students from discrimination — not enable it. Targeting trans youth only increases their risk of harm, and there’s no credible evidence that their inclusion threatens women’s sports. This is about politics, not fairness, and it sets a dangerous precedent for rolling back civil rights.
"These types of actions are built off a long history of exclusion of women and girls from competitive sports. Trans-exclusionary policies and investigations reinforce harmful sex stereotypes, leading to harmful and inappropriate scrutiny of women's and girls’ bodies, especially intersex, Black, and brown girls and women.
"The debates of over trans inclusion in sports distract from the real issues impacting women’s sports. True efforts to protect women in sports should focus on increasing funding, preventing sexual assault, and creating more opportunities, particularly for women and girls of color."
This comment came from GLSEN Executive Director Melanie Willingham-Jaggers: “After firing half of the civil rights investigators at the U.S. Department of Education and closing seven field offices that processed complaints, Linda McMahon is asking the Justice Department to bail her out and provide enough resources so that she can continue one of her most partisan priorities. This is not a serious effort to meet students’ needs or improve school safety. McMahon doesn’t want more resources to address all civil rights complaints, just the ones that fit her narrow political agenda. This is just the latest press release in a months-long intimidation campaign to undermine existing civil rights and exclude marginalized students from educational programming. Trans students and the schools and states that support them know that no amount of press releases can change the law on their own.”
Human Rights Campaign Senior Director of Legal Policy Cathryn Oakley had this to say: "This announcement is just the latest episode of the Trump Administration's obsession with attacking transgender lives from the same folks who recently gutted the Department of Education’s ability to support and uphold the rights of every student in every zip code. Instead of focusing on issues that matter to the American people, like reducing class size, recruiting great teachers, and making college more affordable, they’ve prioritized discrimination over education. Title IX is in place to protect all students, not be a tool for divisive politics. We will continue to fight for the rights of trans youth."
