Students should be free to share their views on sex and gender without being reported for harassment. The 2024 Title IX rule would have punished them for it.
Case Details
Case Status
Open
Location
Alabama
Date Filed
April 29th, 2024
On April 29, 2024, Speech First, a national membership group of students, alumni, and others that defends free speech on campus, joined the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, Parents Defending Education, and other groups in suing the Biden administration over its new Title IX rule. Title IX is a 1972 law that bans sex discrimination in schools that receive federal money.
The lawsuit argues the new rule turns that law upside down. It widens the meaning of “harassment” so far that students could be reported just for sharing their views on political and social issues, or for not using someone’s “preferred pronouns.” That is compelled speech, which the First Amendment forbids. The rule also gives males access to girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms and limits the ability of students accused of harassment to defend themselves.
A federal district court in Alabama refused to block the rule. Speech First and the other plaintiffs appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which blocked the government from enforcing the rule against the plaintiffs while the appeal moved forward.
“The new Title IX rule will once again put Speech First’s student members’ speech rights under threat. The Biden Administration has abandoned the important speech protections that were previously included in the Title IX rule for the last four years, leaving students completely exposed to potential First Amendment violations. Under the new rule, students can be reported for merely expressing their opinions about controversial political and social issues of the day or even if they prefer not to use someone’s “preferred pronouns” or other “gender-affirming” language. This is compelled speech, and it is unconstitutional. The weaponization of Title IX and other campus harassment policies used to target students’ constitutionally protected speech needs to come to an end. It is no secret that the political discourse on college campuses is in an abysmal state, and student self-censorship is at an all-time high. As long as policies like these are used to target student speech, we will continue to see the complete inability for students to confront and engage with ideas that aren’t their own.”
Cherise Trump, Executive Director, Speech First
