Left unprotected, the fight for inclusive Title IX isn't over

On August 1st, the Biden-Harris administration's new Title IX rule went into effect – but only in part. The long-awaited rule promised to bolster protections for LGBTQ+ students and clarify recommendations for how universities and colleges should respond to sexual violence.

As a campus organizer who fought for a stronger Title IX, I should be celebrating. But as a queer survivor of sexual violence in Arkansas, I'm left to mourn the dream of a more inclusive Title IX.

My peers and I returned to school this semester, but the updated Title IX guidance still doesn’t protect us. In July, U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel issued an injunction blocking the Title IX guidance from taking effect in Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Attorney generals from these states sued to make sure LGBTQ+ young people don't benefit from expanded protections. In August, the Supreme Court again sided against young people like me, allowing states to block the Title IX rule entirely.

Conservatives, including Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, argue that the Title IX rule oversteps its authority by interpreting "sex-based discrimination" as including bias based on gender identity. Griffin even called the decision to block the rule "a victory for women and girls in Arkansas and across the nation." But with millions of women and girls left unprotected from harassment, assault, and retaliation, it is hard to see the scattered rollout of Title IX as anything other than a tragedy.

Efforts to limit the Title IX rule are rooted in transphobia and homophobia. Leaders of red states nationwide are afraid of change, taking increasingly authoritarian measures to resist a youth-led push toward progress. Those of us organizing in conservative climates aren't new to restrictions on our rights as queer people. But it does sting that the latest attacks on queer survivors come just as we need support the most.

My assault happened during one of my first queer experiences. My fear of the institution, and its lack of attention to queer survivors and students, stopped me from reporting anything that happened to me to my Title IX office.

I'm not alone.

The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) reports that queer survivors are at times reluctant to report sexual assault, believing it would reflect poorly on themselves and other LGBTQ+ people. Even if we do report what has happened to us, our experiences are often belittled and minimized because of the normalization of sexual assault and rape culture on campus, as well as existing stigma against LGBTQ+ individuals andwidespread retaliation against survivors.

After becoming a survivor of sexual violence, I experienced firsthand how the University of Arkansas lacks accountability when it comes to supporting survivors. Many UArk students report lengthy and traumatizing Title IX processes that seem to privilege perpetrators.

To create a community of support and action, I founded the University of Arkansas chapter of the Sexual Violence Prevention Association (UArk SVPA). Our organization fosters a space where students feel comfortable voicing their experiences. We utilize restorative justice practices, emphasize the need for community care and mutual aid, and raise awareness of the prevalence of sexual violence and harassment within LGBTQ+ communities.

Both survivors' rights and my trans and queer siblings' rights continue to be under attack at a moment when they are critically needed. LGBTQ+ students and survivors are some of the most vulnerable to sex-based discrimination. But instead of protecting us, conservatives and extremists have used the new Title IX rule as an opportunity to ramp up their transphobia and make schools even less safe for queer and trans young people.

Blocking the new Title IX rules will allow my perpetrators to continue hurting others. It will also prevent student organizations like UArk SVPA from building a system that should have been ready to help me when I needed it the most.

My peers and I won't stop fighting for change despite the disappointment. As an organizer with UArk SVPA andKnow Your IX, a national student- and survivor-led project fromAdvocates for Youth, I'll continue to bring attention to the need for a more inclusive Title IX.

But I can't do it alone.

The U.S. Senate must oppose any attempt to roll back the updated Title IX guidance. Congress must collectively strengthen and clarify Title IX so that interpretation is not left to individual states. Students must join us in speaking out about the importance of Title IX protections for all students, especially queer and trans survivors of sexual violence.

We must keep challenging the status quo, fighting for our rights, and lifting our voices so that every survivor and every student has full access to an education.

Reid Pinckard (he/they) is a queer Southern survivor fighting to prevent sexual violence and uplift Southern LGBTQ+ stories through their community organizing efforts. Reid is an organizer with Know Your IX, a youth- and survivor-led project from the national youth activism organizationAdvocates for Youth.

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