Colleges would not be allowed to categorically ban transgender students from competing on certain athletic teams because of their gender identity, under a proposal released Thursday by the U.S. Education Department.
The department’s proposed rule interpreting Title IX, the federal gender-equity law, would establish guardrails for limiting transgender students’ participation in sports.
Colleges that want to limit the participation of transgender athletes would need to create eligibility standards that serve an “educational” purpose, such as preventing injury or ensuring fair competition. The criteria would have to take into account the sport and level of competition involved, as well as the potential harm to students who are denied an opportunity to participate on a team that aligns with their gender identity.
According to the proposal, colleges would be able to use sex-related criteria to limit the participation of transgender students in sports, so long as that criteria serves an educational purpose.
Still, the proposed rule is likely to be met with resistance from Republican state leaders who have pushed for legislation to limit or ban transgender students’ participation in K-12 and college sports. Institutions, students, parents, and coaches are navigating a terse and confusing legal landscape when trying to figure out what kind of athletic participation is allowed.
The regulation, “if adopted as a final rule, would provide much needed clarity for students, parents, and coaches,” an Education Department news release stated.
Colleges that violate Title IX risk being investigated and losing their federal funding. Most of the time, though, colleges work with the Education Department to come into compliance. The department has never stripped an institution of its funding for a Title IX violation.
The proposed rule on transgender athletes was supposed to be released in December but was delayed. Department officials said the proposal would be published in the Federal Register in the next few weeks, after which a 30-day public-comment period would begin.
A separate suite of Title IX regulations, which would roll back policies put in place by the Trump administration and overhaul how colleges investigate complaints of sexual violence, is set to be released in May. Once released, those rules are final, having already gone through the comment process.
Survivor-advocacy groups urged the Education Department on Tuesday to stick to its original timeline, out of concern that delaying the changes would not give colleges enough time to adjust policies before the next academic year. A senior official reiterated on Thursday that the Education Department planned to release its final Title IX rule next month.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinstate a West Virginia law that prohibited transgender athletes from playing on girls’ sports teams.
