Trump administration scraps Biden-era Title IX rule that added 'gender identity'

The Department of Education has announced it will enforce Title IX protections based on biological sex, not gender identity, jettisoning the Biden administration’s effort to extend the landmark civil rights law to men who identify as women.

The department will instead revert immediately to the 2020 Title IX rule, which defines “sex” as “the objective, immutable characteristic of being born male or female” and increases due process safeguards for students accused of sexual misconduct, according to the Dear Colleague letter issued Friday.

“The Biden administration’s failed attempt to rewrite Title IX was an unlawful abuse of regulatory power and an egregious slight to women and girls,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights. “Under the Trump administration, the Education Department will champion equal opportunity for all Americans, including women and girls, by protecting their right to safe and separate facilities and activities in schools, colleges, and universities.”

The letter, which was sent to K-12 school districts and higher-education institutions, comes three weeks after a federal court in Kentucky vacated nationwide the Biden-era rule adding “gender identity” to Title IX.

The announcement also follows President Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order requiring the executive branch to recognize that there are “two sexes, male and female” when enforcing federal guidelines and policies concerning sex protections.

“Accordingly, open Title IX investigations initiated under the 2024 Title IX Rule should be immediately reoriented to comport fully with the requirements of the 2020 Title IX Rule,” said Mr. Trainor, former special senior counsel to the House Judiciary Committee under Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican.

The letter prompted a sigh of relief from conservative groups and others fighting the Biden administration’s Title IX rewrite, which required schools to give male-to-female transgender students access to girls’ and women’s facilities, accommodations and activities.

“This restoration of Title IX is a victory for student safety, privacy, and free speech,” said Alliance Defending Freedom CEO and President Kristen Waggoner. “But above all, it’s a win for women and girls — especially those who stood up to defend their sports and private spaces.”

The Biden administration insisted the Title IX rule released in April did not apply to girls’ and women’s sports, saying that the scholastic athletics issue would be addressed in a separate rulemaking. The administration withdrew the proposed rule in December.

At long last, common sense returns! https://t.co/zKNX78np6F

— Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) January 31, 2025

Former Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who led the 2020 Title IX rule, said on X: “At long last, sanity returns!”

The 2020 Title IX overhaul also strengthened protections for students accused of sexual harassment by requiring, for example, greater transparency and cross-examinations in school proceedings.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funding.

Kim Hermann, Southeastern Legal Foundation executive director, called the Dear Colleague letter a “HUGE win in the ongoing fight to protect women and girls,” while Heritage Foundation senior fellow Sarah Parshall Perry framed the move as the end of a “National nightmare.”

“The end of a big mistake,” said Inez Stepman, Independent Women’s Forum senior policy and legal analyst, on X.

Linda McMahon, Mr. Trump’s choice to lead the department, is awaiting a confirmation hearing while Denise Carter serves as acting education secretary.