'Another big win for Tennessee': Title IX rule blockage confirmed by US appeals court

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The Tennessee Attorney General is celebrating after the U.S. Court of Appeals confirmed the blockage of a new Title IX rule.

Jonathan Skrmetti said the appeals court confirmed the blockage of a new Title IX rule that “would have allowed boys into girls’ locker rooms and private spaces, remains BLOCKED and will not go into effect this summer.”

Skrmetti held a press conference earlier in the year to discuss the state’s fight to defend Title IX. He led six states in suing the federal Department of Education to challenge its “dangerous overhaul” of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act.

Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools that receive funding from the federal government.

“The U.S. Department of Education has no authority to let boys into girls’ locker rooms,” Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti said in a statement. “In the decades since its adoption, Title IX has been universally understood to protect the privacy and safety of women in private spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms. Under this radical and illegal attempt to rewrite the statute, if a man enters a woman’s locker room and a woman complains that makes her uncomfortable, the woman will be subject to investigation and penalties for violating the man’s civil rights. Federal bureaucrats have no power to rewrite laws passed by the people’s elected representatives, and I expect the courts will put a stop to this unconstitutional power grab.”

Skrmetti and Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman have led the effort to block the Biden administration’s Title IX rule, which would have taken effect on August 1.

All three judges of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, including one appointed by President Biden, agreed to block the new ruling, according to a release from the Kentucky AG’s office. The case will now be heard in October.

Kentucky and Tennessee were joined by Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia in challenging the new law.