AG Ken Paxton advises schools on Title IX

Following recent statements about the Biden administration’s attempt to redefine Title IX, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued an advisory for Texas schools.

The advisory, issued June 18, instructs school districts in Texas not to follow or implement guidelines issued three years ago by the Department of Education that expanded the scope of Title IX to include LGBTQ students. Title IX is the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities.

In a June 11 ruling in the case brought by Paxton, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that the DOE’s guidelines were invalid because the agency did not have the power to adopt them, as NBC News reported.

Related to this, the Biden administration implemented a “final rule” through the DOE in April, amending Title IX to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity, as reported by The Dallas Express. The new “final rule” was scheduled to take effect in August 2024, but U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves ruled on June 17 that it could not be enforced while a lawsuit filed by the AGs of six states winds its way through the courts. The six states involved in this particular lawsuit are Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia and West Virginia.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona applauded these formal changes, saying they “make it crystal clear that everyone has access to schools that are safe, welcoming, and that respect their rights,” according to The New York Times.

But in his ruling last week, Reeves said the DOE would “turn Title IX on its head by redefining ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity,’” as CNN reported. He added that “the Department’s interpretation conflicts with the plain language of Title IX and therefore exceeds its authority to promulgate regulations under that statute.”

Paxton called O’Connor’s June 11 ruling a “major victory” against the Biden administration and the DOE.

“These radical policies would have enabled the widespread abuse of children. Because of Texas’ victory, students are now safer from abusers and protected from the erasure of the protections established in Title IX, and school districts are protected from illegal threats of lost federal funding,” Paxton said in the opinion, noting that the Texas state law is clear.

Paxton further stated that parents have a fundamental right to make decisions about their children. He added that public schools should not withhold critical information about the child from their parents and should obtain written parental consent before exposing children to sexual topics.

He added that Texas law does not provide for “confidentiality” between students and teachers, calling it a “recipe for abuse.”

Paxton argues that the DOE’s illegal guidelines in the documents would have removed protections for women and created an opportunity for men to abuse and groom children.

“The illegal guidelines were a blatant attempt by the DOE and the Biden Administration to effect radical social change in our nation’s schools by claiming to ‘interpret’ Title IX to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, which is clearly contrary to the text and intent. of Title IX. “So-called ‘gender modification’ is abuse, and it is one of the worst forms of child abuse when imposed on children,” Paxton wrote in the opinion.

Paxton noted that the ruling “covers all schools and districts in Texas, and ensures that no district in the state will have to comply with the Biden administration’s ‘unlawful interpretation’ of Title IX.”

Paxton concluded the opinion by warning that if a Texas school district “adopts a policy or procedure that violates state law,” he will “pursue every remedy available to protect students and educators from these illegal and radical policies .’