A federal judge has blocked the U.S. Department of Education’s Title IX final rule in Texas, which redefines sex-based harassment to include harassment based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Texas and other states argued that the new rule would force institutions to allow male students into female-only bathrooms and locker rooms and mandate public colleges to cover abortions in student health insurance plans. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas issued the injunction, asserting that the rule contradicts the original intent of Title IX and would cause irreparable harm to the state.

Texas is now the 15th state to block the revised Title IX regulations from taking effect. State officials have instructed public colleges and schools to disregard the new rule, which was set to be implemented on August 1. Texas argued that complying with the rule would force the state to violate its laws, policies, and employees' rights of conscience or risk losing billions in federal funding. Judge Kacsmaryk emphasized the state's dilemma, highlighting the potential collision between state and federal mandates.

The Education Department defended the rule by citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which interpreted Title VII to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment. The department claimed the Title IX changes align with this reasoning, as sex-based discrimination necessarily involves consideration of a person’s sex. However, Judge Kacsmaryk disagreed, stating that the department misapplied Title VII to Title IX, which involves different contexts such as women's athletics and sex-specific facilities in educational settings. The Education Department did not comment on the ruling.