©2024 The News Service of Florida
An Alabama federal judge will hear arguments July 1 in an attempt by Florida and other Republican-led states to block a new Biden administration rule about sex-based discrimination in education programs, according to an order posted online Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon will hold a hearing in Birmingham, Ala., about a motion by Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina and four other plaintiffs for a preliminary injunction against the rule, which deals with Title IX, a landmark 1972 law that bars discrimination in education programs based on sex.
The states and four organizations filed a lawsuit last month alleging, in part, that the Biden administration overstepped its legal authority in extending Title IX regulations to apply to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The lawsuit also contends that the rule, if carried out, could affect issues such as which bathrooms that transgender students can use in schools.
In announcing the rule last month, the U.S. Department of Education said the measure will “fully effectuate Title IX’s promise that no person experiences sex discrimination in federally funded education.”
The rule also has drawn other legal challenges.
For example, the conservative group Moms for Liberty on Tuesday joined Kansas, Alaska, Utah, Wyoming and three other plaintiffs in filing a lawsuit in federal court in Kansas.
