The Importance of Preserving the United States Department of Education’s Authority Under Title IX in the Fight to Protect LGBTQ Rights

Natali Banducci

The numerous legal challenges to the Biden Administration’s 2024 Title IX Final Rule (“2024 Final Rule”) are prime examples of the recent attacks on transgender youth. States are questioning the authority of the U.S. Department of Education (“DOE”) to alter the definition of “sex-based discrimination” under Title IX to explicitly protect LGBTQ students from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These challenges are ultimately a culmination of the rising vocal hatred of LGBTQ individuals and a weaponization of the recent decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States which rolled back protections on vulnerable communities and stripped power from federal agencies.

This Comment argues that Title IX should protect all vulnerable students who experience discrimination on the basis of sex, including LGBTQ youth who face ongoing and wide-ranging attacks from their fellow students to the highest echelons of the U.S. government. The DOE should have the authority, under Title IX, to promulgate regulations that bridge the gap between those who are protected from discrimination in schools, and those who need protection but are currently left vulnerable due to their identity as a member of the LGBTQ community. Discrimination against LGBTQ students in schools is an urgent issue, especially as tensions over transgender rights intensify and Donald Trump regains the office of the presidency with promises to dismantle the DOE and roll back the few remaining protections for LGBTQ individuals.