Trump Administration Rolls Back Biden's Title IX Rules on LGBTQ Protections and Sexual Harassment Standards

The Trump administration has formally rescinded Biden-era Title IX regulations, stripping protections that had extended the federal ban on sex discrimination in schools to cover LGBTQ students. Education Secretary Linda McMahon framed the move as codifying how the administration has already been enforcing the law since January 2025, following a federal judge in Kentucky who blocked the Biden interpretation before Trump's second term even began.

The rollback goes beyond LGBTQ rights, alarming advocates for sexual assault survivors. The Biden rules — developed over three years and drawing 240,000 public comments — had broadened the scope of sexual harassment complaints schools must investigate, including incidents at school-sponsored events held off campus. The Trump administration's new rule reverts to the narrower, first-term definition of sex-based harassment and reinstates a higher burden of proof, moving away from the Biden-era "preponderance of evidence" standard that made it easier for administrators to find misconduct likely occurred.

McMahon publicly tied the changes to protecting girls' sports, telling the Fox News digital outlet OutKick the update would ensure "boys in boys sports and girls in girls sports" — though the rule itself explicitly does not address athletic eligibility. The department's own release acknowledges the change "effects no change of current substantive law," since courts had already blocked the Biden rules.

Critics, including Shiwali Patel of the National Women's Law Center, argue the administration is using concern for women and girls as cover to weaken the very enforcement mechanisms that protect student survivors of sexual violence. Civil rights attorney Nancy Potter, a former Education Department official, acknowledged the new rule reflects law as it has functionally stood since early 2025 — but opponents warn that vacating the Biden framework removes the legal architecture needed for robust Title IX enforcement going forward.