Trump Administration Rescinds Title IX LGBTQ+ Protections

The U.S. Department of Education has formally rescinded the 2024 Title IX regulations that expanded protections for LGBTQ+ and pregnant students. It replaces them with the 2020 Trump-era rule, effective immediately upon publication in the Federal Register on September 29. The department acted without a public comment period, stating such a process would be 'contrary to public interest' and would delay aligning policy with court decisions. A department fact sheet asserted that 'nothing changes in practice for individual students, parents, and teachers,' claiming these are the rules it has enforced since January 31, 2025.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the new rulemaking 'restores the commonsense language promulgated in the first Trump administration.' The department's introduction to the regulation notes that 'this final action does not reopen debate on the 2020 Rule or the 2024 Rule.' It also states that 'it does not assess the department’s policy preferences as between those two rules.' The 2024 rule had incorporated LGBTQ+ protections for students and school employees for the first time, based on the Biden administration's argument that Title IX's ban on sex discrimination extends to sexual orientation and gender identity. The 2020 rules lack these explicit protections.

Advocacy and legal criticism of the reinstated 2020 rule

Civil rights groups condemned the reversal. The National Women’s Law Center said the reinstated 2020 rule 'significantly weakens' protections for survivors of sexual harassment and assault and excludes LGBTQ+ students. The Human Rights Campaign called the move 'Orwellian' and 'a monstrous injustice.'

The 2024 regulations had been stopped by the courts. They were preliminarily enjoined by eight different courts in 2024 and vacated by two courts in early 2025, partly due to the Biden administration's interpretation of Title IX to cover 'gender identity.' The Department of Education has not enforced the 2024 final rule for over a year and a half.

Shiwali Patel, the National Women’s Law Center’s senior director of education justice, linked the policy shift to a specific case. 'The Cornell University case is a devastating example of why robust federal Title IX enforcement matters,' Patel said. The center pointed to an alleged sexual assault of a woman by fraternity members at Cornell University. A state prosecutor has reopened the investigation of that 2024 incident. Cornell University supports the reopened investigation notwithstanding its own Title IX investigation, which resulted in a range of sanctions for the accused students.

Patel argued the administration is ignoring survivors. 'Sexual harassment and assault continue to be pervasive in schools and, to the fullest extent possible, we should be working to enforce the laws that protect student survivors of sexual violence,' she stated. 'Yet, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Trump administration have decided to ignore what survivors need, instead weaponizing Title IX to attack trans students.'

Impact on schools and ongoing enforcement actions

Despite the rollback, the Education Department continues specific Title IX enforcement. Earlier this month, its Office for Civil Rights announced one of its first resolution agreements closing a sexual misconduct investigation. The agreement requires the district to respond to all reports of alleged sexual harassment and develop a federally approved districtwide Title IX records system. The misconduct included reports involving an employee.

Other enforcement actions continue. The department has initiated investigations into LGBTQ+-inclusive school district practices. It has also moved to cut states off from funding if they have policies allowing transgender athletes to play on girls’ and women’s sports teams.

The 2020 rules notably added more due-process protections for students accused of sexual harassment. The second Trump administration informally returned to enforcing these rules in January 2025 after the Biden regulations were struck down. A federal district judge struck down the Biden regulations for good in the final days of Biden’s term. A second federal judge issued a similar ruling just weeks after Trump took office.

Left unsaid is that a new presidential administration would have to go through the full regulatory process to change the reinstated 2020 Title IX rule. The reinstated 2020 regulations take immediate effect without a notice-and-comment period.