Louisiana’s top education official advised school districts Monday not to change their policies to comply with new federal rules that extend civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ students, setting up a potential showdown with the Biden administration.
The new rules, released Friday by the U.S. Department of Education, say discrimination against students based on sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited under Title IX. The 1972 law bans sex-based discrimination in schools and colleges that receive federal funding. Schools must respond “promptly and effectively” to any alleged discrimination, otherwise the federal government can intervene, the new rules say.
In his letter, state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said the federal rules, which take effect Aug. 1, would force schools to allow transgender girls to use girls’ restrooms and locker rooms. He also said the rules would compel teachers to refer to students by names or pronouns that do not match their sex assigned at birth.
Brumley also said the new rules, which codify guidance the Biden administration first issued years ago, would conflict with a 2022 state law that bans transgender girls and women from participating on female school sports teams.
“The Title IX rule changes recklessly endanger students and seek to dismantle equal opportunities for females,” he wrote in the April 22 letter.
The updated federal rules come as Louisiana and other Republican-led states seek to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ students, especially transgender youth. The Louisiana Legislature previously banned transgender young people from receiving gender-affirming medical care. This year, lawmakers are looking to block transgender people from using school bathrooms that do not align with their sex assigned at birth, and to protect teachers who refuse to use students’ preferred pronouns.
Louisiana’s legislation, which would also take effect Aug. 1 if passed, could run afoul of the new anti-discrimination rules. State Attorney General Liz Murrill has already vowed to challenge the rules in court, but that process could take months or years to play out.
In the meantime, educators and young people could be stuck in limbo, with the federal government saying LGBTQ+ students are protected from discrimination and state officials saying the opposite.
“Right now, it’s completely uncertain,” said SarahJane Guidry, executive director of Forum for Equality, a Louisiana-based LGBTQ+ rights group. Until the courts weigh in, she added, groups like hers will urge schools to follow the federal guidance. “That’s all we have at the moment.”
Brumley’s memo to school districts is just the latest volley in an ongoing dispute between the Biden administration and Republican state officials over protections for LGBTQ+ students. While Biden officials assert that federal law prohibits discrimination against students based on sexual orientation or gender identity, several states have argued that the law only applies to biological sex and does not protect transgender people.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry joined a lawsuit in 2021, when he was the state attorney general, challenging the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX. In a news release that year, Landry’s office said the federal guidance would violate students’ privacy by allowing students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
“This reckless and unlawful directive puts the safety and security of all Louisiana children in jeopardy,” he said in his 2021 statement.
Landry’s successor, Murrill, is continuing the fight. She said in a statement Friday that the new anti-discrimination rules reflect “Joe Biden’s extreme gender ideology” and pose a threat to girls and women.
“This won’t stand,” the statement said, “lawsuit coming soon.”
The updated Title IX rules also enhance protections for victims of sexual assault and misconduct. They broaden the scope of sexual harassment complaints that schools and universities must investigate and roll back some Trump-era protections for students accused of sexual misconduct.
Federal officials said the new rules do not address the hot-button issue of transgender athletes’ eligibility to play on male or female sports teams. The administration has promised to put forward separate rules on that issue.
But, in his letter, Brumley said the newly released rules “could be in direct contradiction” with Louisiana’s law targeting transgender student athletes. He also said the Biden administration’s expanded definition of discrimination is “unsupported by the text of Title IX.”
He advised school districts to consult their attorneys, but added that, “it remains my position that schools should not alter policies or procedures at this time” due to the new rules.
Students regularly face mistreatment based on their perceived sexuality or gender identity.
Nationwide, LGBTQ+ high schoolers across the country were nearly twice as likely as their straight peers to feel unsafe at school and face bullying, according to a 2019 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey. In Louisiana, the vast majority of LGBTQ+ high school students report hearing homophobic remarks regularly in school, according to a different 2019 survey.
Peyton Rose Michelle, a transgender woman who went to school in Louisiana, said she faced bullying from first grade through high school. Now the executive director of Louisiana Trans Advocates, she said LGBTQ+ students need protection — not laws and policies that further restrict their rights.
“Queer and trans kids need all the support they can get,” she said.
