Title IX has long been an area of contention between liberals and conservatives. It states, for those who are not familiar, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Recently, the disagreement has been revived by a series of decisions made regarding the law by the Trump administration.
During his term, former president Biden made revisions to Title IX that expanded the community who are legally entitled to discrimination protection to include transgender and other LGBTQ+ individuals. The administration also made it easier for victims to report sexual assault and protected transgender women’s right to participate in women’s sports.
Most troublesome for critics of this revision was the allowance of transgender athletes to use bathrooms and locker rooms that aligned with their gender identity. Many argued that this would make sexual assault more likely, because colleges would be letting “men” into women’s bathrooms. However, countless studies such as one published in the journal Sexuality Research and Social Policy in 2018 have found no links to inclusive bathrooms and increased frequency in sexual assault.
On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order that stated that Title IX will be reverted back to its 2020 version, disregarding revisions made by the Biden administration. While it might seem like the main concern of the Trump administration was helping sexual assault victims, the 2020 law seemingly makes their situations harder by making it more difficult for sexual assault victims to get justice. The 2020 rule narrows what qualifies as sexual assault and also where students are protected (any events off campus, such as international events, would not be included). It would also implement more processing requirements to reports, such as having the victim cross examine their alleged assaulter which not only makes filing a report longer, it also forces victims to relive their trauma.
The other part of Trump’s order states that the government will revert to enforcing Title IX based strictly on biological sex. The order declared that there are only two genders: male and female, and that a person’s gender is based on what they were biologically born as. This order removes protections from discrimination for LGBTQ+ individuals, namely transgender people, as it removes protection of their right to participate in collegiate sports. The NCAA complied with this, announcing that it would limit participation in women’s sports to athletes born female.
However, the state of Maine has not complied with the new order. Maine officials assert that the state has a responsibility to give equal rights to all students under the Maine Human Rights Act. The Trump administration did not take kindly to this, resulting in a small altercation between Trump and Maine governor Janet Mills. The conversation went as follows:
“I understand Maine, is Maine here, the governor of Maine?” Trump said addressing governors gathered in the State Dining Room.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Mills said.
“Are you not going to comply with it?” Trump asked.
“I’m complying with state and federal laws,” Mills said.
“Well, we are the federal law,” Trump said. “You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.”
Trump added: “And by the way, your population, even though it’s somewhat liberal, although I did very well there, your population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports. So … you better comply, because otherwise you’re not getting any, any federal funding.”
“See you in court.” Mills responded.
“Good, I’ll see you in court, I look forward to that,” Trump said. “That should be a real easy one, and enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”
Despite this threat, Mills upholds her conviction that Maine students will not be deprived of their funding and their rights. In a statement made to CNN, Mills states that “If the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of Federal funding, my Administration and the Attorney General will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides.”
Alterations to Title IX have been in the spotlight since the onset of the new Trump administration, debate over Title IX and the scope of its protections have been a hot topic for even longer. While revisions to the Title IX law have been almost nationally implemented, Maine has pushed back and plans to protect the rights of students. Therefore, the matter does not seem to have an end in sight; Title IX may continue to be revised heavily and be at the forefront of government issues.
