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Dive Brief:

• A federal judge on July 2 temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s final Title IX rule from going into effect in four states —  Kansas, Alaska, Utah and Wyoming.
• This makes 14 states where the controversial rule is now on hold by judicial order, which along with legislative challenges is throwing the rule's Aug. 1 effective date into turmoil.
• In April, the U.S. Department of Education expanded Title IX regulations to include protections for LGBTQI+ students and employees. But conservative lawmakers and critics immediately pushed back, saying the interpretation overstepped the purpose of the civil rights law designed to ban sex-based discrimination in federally funded colleges and K-12 schools.

Dive Insight:

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge John Broomes, a Trump appointee, agreed with the plaintiffs that the Education Department's interpretation of Title IX ran contrary to the original aims of the legislation.

"The DoE’s reinterpretation of Title IX to place gender identity on equal footing with (or in some instances arguably stronger footing than) biological sex would subvert Congress’ goals of protecting biological women in education," the Kansas judge wrote in a 47-page order.

The agency's inclusion of LGBTQI+ rights in the regulations also represents an overreach of power, according to Broomes.

"DoE has essentially taken it upon itself to answer questions that have prompted significant debate at both the state and federal levels in recent years," he wrote.

The judge's order also blocks the Title IX rule from taking effect at schools outside the four states. This includes those attended by members of Young America’s Foundation and the children of members of Moms for Liberty, two national conservative advocacy groups and plaintiffs in the lawsuit. 

On Wednesday, the Young America's Foundation began using the injunction as a recruiting tool, telling potential members that the decision would apply to their school if they joined the organization.

Through two other injunctions, the final Title IX rule has already been blocked in 10 other states — Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Idaho, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia.