SCOTUS rules against Biden admin, halts enforcement of new Title IX rule

As litigation continues over a new federal rule that purports to expand protections for transgender students under Title IX, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to mandate enforcement of certain provisions therein.

In a narrow 5-4 vote, the justices rejected a request from the Biden White House that would have allowed biological males in women's locker rooms, bathrooms, and dormitories in the 10 states that currently have regulations in place to block such activity, as Fox News reports.

Basis of dispute

At issue in Friday's decision was a federal rule, promulgated in April, which declared that the Title IX ban on “sex” discrimination in educational institutions includes discrimination related to sexual orientation, gender identity, as well as “pregnancy or related conditions.”

The expanded definition and its attendant rule went into effect on Aug. 1, triggering legal action by over 24 Republican attorneys general who contended that the rule stood in conflict with state-level prohibitions on transgender participation in women's sports.

For its part, the administration contended that the rule does not deal with eligibility for participation in athletics, but experts suggested that it would, in fact, have the end result of placing more biological males on the field of play with women.

In the end, an unsigned order from the court stated, “On this limited record and in its emergency applications, the Government has not provided this Court a sufficient basis to disturb the lower courts' interim conclusions that the three provisions found likely to be unlawful are intertwined with and affect other provisions of the rule.”

Notably, Justice Neil Gorsuch, often considered part of the high court's conservative wing, sided with the liberals on the bench in arguing that the rulings in the lower courts were “overbroad.”

Reactions pour in

Among those heralding the high court's ruling was Caitlyn Jenner, a transgender former Olympian who took to X as a means of celebration.

“The SCOTUS just overturned the Title IX rewrite allowing biological boys into girls sports. This is great news for girls and women's sports all across the nation,” Jenner wrote.

Earlier this year, Jenner elaborated on the theme, saying, “You have to compete in the biological sex that you were born. This is critical to protecting the integrity of competition in women's sports.”

Joining in those sentiments was ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit who spoke to the issue during an interview on Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich.

Stating that men do not belong in women's sports, Herbstreit added, “I'm done giving an s**ts at all about any of it. It's almost like there are two different sets of rules, and if you have a view that's a little more traditional, or I'm a Christian guy, it's like there is a different set of rules for that viewpoint. It's just hard to turn the other cheek time after time after time,” giving voice to an opinion that millions of his fellow Americans surely share.