The Office for Civil Rights Listening Session with ATIXA
On July 22, 2021, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Suzanne Goldberg met with ATIXA members to discuss current Title IX issues, listen to statements from practitioners in the field, and answer questions our members had as to how some Title IX issues are currently being addressed. We had six ATIXA members in attendance, along with ATIXA President Brett Sokolow who read some anonymous member statements. This listening session also gave ATIXA the opportunity to share with the Acting Secretary our association’s efforts to allow those victims of sexual violence who have had to take a leave of absence from school to become eligible for a financial aid loan repayment deferment for up to one year. This listening session is the first step of many to work with the new Biden Administration to achieve gender equity for all.
Transgender student-athletes anti-discrimination federal guidance disputed by 21 Republican state attorneys in a letter to the White House
Late last month, Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden joined 20 fellow Republican state attorneys general in signing a letter to the White House disputing recent federal guidance on how—and whether—anti-discrimination laws protect transgender students. In the letter, Republicans objected to federal notices that, in “a 180-degree change” from the Trump Administration, asserted that Title IX’s prohibition of sex-based discrimination by schools receiving federal money applies to transgender students. While the U.S. Department of Education argues those protections for transgender students were cemented by a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case, the state attorneys general contend the issue is still unresolved as at least eight of their states defend restrictions on transgender students.