Fitch applauds U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Title IX gender identity redefinition

Aug 17, 2024 – On Friday, Aug. 16, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Biden-Harris administration’s attempt to vacate Mississippi’s injunction against what was termed an unlawful Title IX rule.

Justice Sotomayor emphasized in her dissent that “every Member of the Court agrees” that Mississippi is entitled to an injunction against the rule’s redefinition of sex discrimination to include gender identity.

“This ruling is a significant step to preserving the integrity of Title IX and ensuring that girls everywhere are given a level playing field to reach their full potential,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “I am proud to have joined my colleagues from Louisiana, Idaho, and Montana in this challenge to the Biden-Harris administration’s extreme political agenda.”

This means that Mississippi’s schools will not have to comply with the Biden-Harris administration’s demand that they let boys in girls’ bathrooms as our children return to school.

Fitch brought the first lawsuit against the rule in April along with the Attorneys General for the States of Louisiana, Montana, and Idaho. In June, a federal judge sided with Fitch, issuing a preliminary injunction against the Biden Department of Education’s Title IX rules, which would transform the federal law into a prohibition against separate bathrooms, locker rooms, and other private spaces in education from elementary schools to colleges and universities and set up a framework to make female athletes compete with transgender athletes for spots on teams and awards in competitions. 

The preliminary injunction, which prevents it from going into effect pending further review by the district court, applies to those four states.

Earlier this month,  Fitch led a multistate amicus brief at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals supporting a challenge to the Biden administration’s attempt to transform Title IX.

Read the ruling, which also applied to a similar case brought by the States of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, and West Virginia, here.