Judge blocks Biden’s Title IX rule in four states, dealing a blow to protections for LGBTQ+ students

By COLLIN BINKLEY
AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration’s new Title IX rule expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students has been temporarily blocked in four states after a federal judge in Louisiana found that it overstepped the Education Department’s authority. In a preliminary injunction granted Thursday, U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty called the new rule an “abuse of power” and a “threat to democracy.” His order blocks the rule in Louisiana, which filed a challenge to the rule in April, and in Mississippi, Montana and Idaho, which joined the suit. The Education Department did not immediately respond to the order.