Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured additional legal protections for women in Texas’s schools, colleges, and universities, preventing the Biden Administration from making any future attempt to impose on the State its interpretation that Title IX grants favored status to “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.” 

In June 2023, Attorney General Paxton sued the Department of Education (“DOE”) for issuing guidance that unlawfully extended Title IX to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classes. This would have forced Texas schools and universities to allow biological males to use women’s restrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-specific spaces. Any Texas school refusing to follow the mandate risked losing federal education funding. In June 2024, a federal district court judge ruled that the Biden Administration's attempt to “rewrite Title IX in a way that shockingly transforms American education” was unlawful and vacated the rule. 

Now, the judge has expanded the ruling and enjoined any future agency action by DOE that rewrites Title IX to include “sexual orientation or gender identity” within the statute’s anti-discrimination provisions. This expanded ruling is in addition to the injunction Attorney General Paxton secured in July 2024, stopping another rule promulgated by the DOE that would redefine Title IX to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” which prevents enforcement of that rule while the case continues.

“This is a major win for protecting Texas and its students from any future attempt by the federal government to impose its unlawful interpretation of Title IX that puts women and girls at risk,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The Biden Administration has waged war on women’s rights by subverting the Title IX protections they are entitled to in school and in sports. I am proud to deliver this victory and will continue to ensure that Texas schools remain safe from Biden’s unlawful policies.” 

To read the final order, click here.