Transgender rights advocates protest at the Utah State Capitol on June 19, 2024, ahead of a House vote not to comply with new Title XI rules that protect against discrimination based on students’ gender identity. (Alixel Cabrera/Utah news report)
During a special legislative session on Juneteenth, Utah lawmakers said they will not comply with new Title IX requirements set to take effect in August. On Wednesday night, they passed a pair of resolutions that they say allow the state to ignore the federal directive.
According to the resolutions, state employees are instructed not to follow them Title IX Requirements that provide protections for transgender students, allowing them to play on sports teams and use the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity — instead, state laws banning transgender people from those spaces in schools and government-run facilities will override these federal guidelines.
The Senate and House of Representatives spent much of Wednesday evening debating the resolutions at length.
Republicans have generally interpreted the Title IX rules as federal overreach by unelected bureaucrats who risked overturning existing laws in Utah protecting women’s sports. Democrats warned that failure to enforce Title IX could jeopardize federal funding, while arguing that the resolutions targeted transgender students, an already marginalized group.
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As House members took the floor, a crowd of about 100 people gathered outside the chamber as their chants of “trans rights are human rights” echoed through the Capitol. Dressed in the blue and pink transgender flag and carrying signs that read “stop the war on transgender people” and “protect trans children,” the protesters held an impromptu fashion show before dispersing around 4:30 p.m.
The resolutions follow one legal challenge to new Title IX requirements filed in May by Utah and four other Republican Party-led states. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Kentucky this week sided with Republican attorneys general in six states who filed a request similar lawsuitin which he said in his statement that ‘sex’ and ‘gender identity’ are not the same.
The Title IX rules in question were announced in April by the U.S. Department of Education, revert changes created by former President Donald Trump and former Secretary of Education Betsey DeVos, which established a new, narrow definition of sexual harassment and changed the way schools handle allegations of sexual harassment or assault. Now, under the Biden administration, Title IX protections will include gender identity and sexual orientation.
The protections conflict with HB257, which prohibits transgender people from using the locker room and restroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
In addition, lawmakers say the new Title IX rules conflict with three other existing state laws:
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HB11, which bans transgender students from joining school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
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Utah laws that “protect students from harassment and protect students’ rights to free speech and due process.”
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And Utah’s laws regarding abortion, “which generally prohibit the use of public funds for abortion services.”
Until the court rules on the Utah lawsuit, the state will not enforce the provisions of Title IX, a process enabled by the state. Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act.
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That law, which Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed in January, gives the state the ability to opt out of federal guidelines as long as the Legislature passes a concurrent resolution, which requires buy-in from both the Senate president and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. and support from a two-thirds majority in both bodies. The governor must also sign the resolution.
That’s the process that partially played out Wednesday, with the House voting along party lines and the Senate voting in a similar fashion. HJR301sponsored by R. Neil Walter, R-St-George, and HCR301sponsored by Kera Birkland, R-Mountain Green.
HCR301 requires Cox’s signature.
These resolutions declare that the federal government’s “overreach with respect to the new regulations adopted under Title IX” infringes on state sovereignty while prohibiting any government official from “enforcing or assisting in enforcing the new regulations ”.
“This is a very simple, simple resolution,” Birkland said Wednesday, speaking to HCR301 at a meeting of the Business and Labor Interim Committee. “It just forces and tells state agencies to follow state law. We don’t want anyone to be confused.”
Birkland added that she doesn’t want people to use Title IX “as an excuse to ignore state law because they don’t like state law.”
In the Senate, the lone Republican “no” vote was Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City. He opposed the bill out of fear that it could prompt the federal government to withdraw funding for Utah schools.
“This very seriously jeopardizes the $696 million that the federal government makes available for nutrition programs, for Title I, for career and technical education, and especially for special education,” Thatcher said.
For the rest of Republicans, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the effort to ban transgender students from girls’ sports trumped any concerns about federal funds.
“As a woman, I stand with other women, my daughter and future girls of this state and country, who understand that these protections do indeed exist for you. There is a place for you in sports,” Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, said on the House floor. “No one is trying to target teenagers or individuals. The bills we are considering had privacy plans and a compassionate approach.
Democrats disagreed with that sentiment and questioned why the Legislature felt the need to continually pass laws surrounding transgender Utahns.
“My frustration is that it already feels like you’ve already won this war against a very small group of people in an already marginalized community,” Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, said on the Senate floor, calling the approach of the legislature “confusing, frustrating and distressing.”
“This feels like rubbing salt in the wound,” she said.
The choice to go against the federal government before a court ruling is relatively new territory. During a media meeting on Wednesday with House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, both politicians said they were confident in their approach.
“As we push back on the federal government, we believe we are within our state’s rights,” Adams said.
“We’re on a pretty solid legal footing,” Schultz added. “The overreach of the Biden administration and the federal government has spiraled out of control. Federalism is the way forward.”
Adams acknowledged that ignoring the Biden administration could result in Utah schools losing federal funds, telling reporters that he is “always concerned about risk, but we are also concerned about children.”
“We have a lot of money that we can put in reserve,” Adams said.
The post Citing states’ rights, Utah won’t follow Title IX rules protecting transgender students appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
