The Trump administration earlier today (Monday, Sept. 28) announced that it has rescinded a Biden-era policy extending the federal ban on sex discrimination in schools to also protect LGBTQ+ people, according to reports by The New York Times.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon — former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment who, along with her husband Vince McMahon, was sued in July 2024 for allegedly ignoring and/or enabling sexual abuse of underage “ring boys” in the 1980s and ’90s — said that the change codifies how the Trump administration has enforced the federal law barring sex discrimination in educational programs funded by the federal government — aka “Title IX.”
(Linda and Vince McMahon separated in November 2024, BTW.)
Claiming the change “faithfully reflect(s) court orders and congressional intent,” McMahon continued, “We will continue to relentlessly champion equal opportunity for all Americans and hold accountable any school or college that violates the rights, privacy or athletic opportunities of our women and girls.”
McMahon failed to note, however, that “equal opportunity for all Americans” does not include Americans with darker skin or who practice some religion other than right-wing “Christian” nationalism, and that protecting “our women and girls” does not include protecting them from rape by frat boys or from pedophiles or from right-wing politicians interfering with their health care decisions and allowing them to die from dangerous pregnancies rather than undergo any procedure that might harm an unborn fetus.
Anyway.
Advocates for sexual assault survivors protested the change, saying that it not only rolls back protections for LGBTQ+ student but also reverses changes from the Biden administration that had widened the range of sexual harassment complaints that schools are responsible for investigating.
— Tammye Nash
