Lawmaker tells Tennessee universities to ignore LGBTQ protections in Title IX law
A legislator asked Tennessee universities to remove language implying LGBTQ people are specifically included under Title IX discrimination laws after a proposal from the Department of Education to include them was blocked by a federal judge.
John Ragan, a Republican member of Tennessee’s House of Representatives and chair of its Government Operations Committee, sent letters to state-funded universities in late August that said such implications could violate state law.
The schools who received the letters — about a dozen — were “advised to immediately revoke and/or remove any publications, policies and website entries for which your institution is responsible that state or imply that LGBTQI+ students, etc., are a protected class under Title IX.”
Title IX, a law enacted in the Education Amendments of 1972, protects people from “discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance,” according to the U.S. Department of Education.
In June, the Department of Education released proposed amendments to the law to include “discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”
But about a month later, Politico reported, a Tennessee federal judge ruled to temporarily block the Education Department’s Title IX guidance. Judge Charles Atchley of Tennessee’s Eastern District said it “directly interferes with and threatens Plaintiff States’ ability to continue enforcing their state laws.”
Those laws currently include a restriction of transgender people from playing on sports teams (Ragan co-sponsored this bill) and using bathrooms that don’t match their gender assigned at birth.
Responses from UT, ETSU
In his letters, Ragan requested institutions reply by Sept. 2 stating whether they had changed their Title IX language. He did not immediately disclose whether he had received a response from all schools that were sent the letters, but McClatchy News obtained response letters from Eastern Tennessee State University, a small school in Johnson City, Tennessee, and University of Tennessee, which has several campuses across the state.
ETSU said it made an amendment to its website following the letter, but maintains its own policies, separate from Titile IX compliance rules, that “prohibit discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
“The courts are currently determining whether sexual orientation and/or gender expression is considered a protected class under Title IX at universities across Tennessee and the nation. Regardless of that outcome, ETSU’s policy prohibiting discrimination of any kind remains in effect,” said a school spokesperson in a statement to McClatchy News. “Core to ETSU’s Mission and Values is the declaration that people come first, are treated with dignity and respect, and are encouraged to achieve their full potential.”
UT said no changes to their information were necessary because they weren’t made in the first place. Its Title IX policy “applies regardless of the Complainant’s or the Respondent’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.” The Knoxville campus of UT was ranked as the No. 1 most “LGBTQ-Unfriendly” school by the Princeton Review in 2022.
“The University of Tennessee confirms that it did not modify its publications, policies, or websites relating to Title IX in response to either the June 23, 2021 letter from the US Department of Education or the injunction issued on July 15, 2022 by the Federal District Court,” said the letter. “We do not believe anything in our current policies, procedures, or statements relating to Title IX or nondiscrimination violates either federal or state law.”
‘Free to figure themselves out’
Story VanNess, a program director for a non-profit LGBTQ organization in Tennessee called Knox Pride, told WBIR that universities are often a safe haven for the community.
“Title IX protections are very important. Especially for the transgender community in particular, but the LGBT community in general”, VanNess said. “Colleges, for a lot of LGBTQ+ people, is the place where they can be free to figure themselves out, where they can learn, and see other queer people and start living their true authentic life. And that is invaluable.”
As the chair of government operations, Ragan said such policy changes or creations as the DOE’s are under his oversight. But In a statement to McClatchy News, Ragan added that the letter “‘advised,’ not ‘unilaterally directed’” institutions.
The letters “advising affected state institutions not to implement the enjoined and restrained federal guidance is nothing more than reminding state institutions to follow existing state law. That some people are apparently upset over prompting a public institution to adhere to the law is perplexing.”
He said he believes some who have contacted him on the issue have made misguided assumptions.
“As a matter of record, my position, to which these people apparently object, is based upon the ‘rule of law,’” he said. ”Therefore, unless one maintains that LGBTQ+ is a religion or a disability, there is no immutable characteristic consistently present within the members of this group that qualifies for an implied protection assertion.”
Public comment submissions on the proposal were open for a 60-day period, which elapsed in late August. According to NBC, the Department of Education will now likely take several months or longer to address each point in writing before the regulation can be finalized.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Lawmaker tells Tennessee universities to ignore LGBTQ protections in Title IX law."
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