Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti speaks at the Franklin Theatre, May 8, 2023
Tennessee is co-leading an alliance of six states challenging the U.S. Department of Education’s new changes to Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination. The new rules — which, after a prolonged process, the Biden administration announced on April 19 — overhaul Trump-era changes and provide stronger protections for transgender students.
The Biden administration's rules have been met with fierce opposition from conservative state leaders across the country. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey held a press conference Tuesday to announce a lawsuit they are co-leading with Kentucky. (Indiana, Ohio and Virginia have also joined the suit.) Morrisey referenced a West Virginia lawsuit “that we expect will be up at the Supreme Court fairly soon” — two weeks ago, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a West Virginia law banning trans students from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
According to a summary from the U.S. Department of Education, the federal government’s newly “proposed regulations would prohibit all forms of sex discrimination, including discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.” And according to a separate fact sheet from the DOE: “The final regulations also provide greater clarity regarding: the definition of ‘sex-based harassment’; the scope of sex discrimination, including schools’ obligations not to discriminate based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity; and schools’ obligations to provide an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex.”
‘Tennessee has led the way on every discriminatory trend,' says Human Rights Campaign rep
Skrmetti called the changes a “radical new vision of how men and women interrelate,” speculating that cisgender men could take advantage of the new rules by entering women’s restrooms and locker rooms — and that women and girls “could be liable for a civil rights violation” if they express discomfort about the presence of trans students. He and Morrisey were joined by swimmer Riley Gaines, an outspoken opponent of trans athletes. Though the concept of school sports was brought up multiple times throughout the press conference, the new Title IX rules do not address athletics, which will be addressed in a separate rule-making process. As noted by Chalkbeat, while the "new rules explicitly state that denying a trans student access to a bathroom or locker room that corresponds with their gender identity causes harm to the student in a way that generally violates Title IX," schools can also maintain single-gender restrooms and request confirmation of students' gender identity.
Tennessee’s Republican supermajority has passed several laws targeting LGBTQ students over the past few years, from restricting their ability to participate in school sports to protecting educators who don’t use students’ preferred pronouns. Within the past year, the General Assembly has also discussed rejecting federal education funding because of the “strings” attached — such as those pertaining to Title IX. When states or school districts do not comply with federal regulations, they could lose federal funding.
“We applaud the release of the federal regulations that make schools safer for LGBTQ students, those who have experienced sexual assault and harassment, and pregnant students,” says LGBTQ advocacy organization the Tennessee Equality Project in a statement. “We do not understand why our Attorney General is defending barriers to education and old prejudices. People of good will across the state join us in being excited about the potential for public policy to protect all students in Tennessee.”
Hamilton Matthew Masters contributed to this reporting.
