Our collection of state-of-the-state pages are focused on bills, laws, policies, and other happenings in the states that we are licensed in. Of course, things happen at the federal level, too. So, this page will be dedicated to federal updates.
Our State Pages:
- Alaska
- California
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Montana
- Oregon (coming soon!)
- Utah
- Washington
- Wyoming
August 1, 2024
The Biden Administration Title IX ruling which expands protections against sex discrimination in education to transgender students went into effect on August 1st. It is blocked in 26 states. As usual, Law Dork is where we go for analysis.
July 4, 2024
A federal district court judge in Mississippi has blocked the nondiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act nationally. Grrr.
There are multiple lawsuits and injunctions at play stopping the Biden administration’s rulings protecting LGBTQ+ youth and adults from discrimination in education and healthcare. As usual, Law Dork has a great write-up.
June 24, 2024
The Supreme Court has announced that is has granted cert in L.W. v. Skremetti: this is the challenge to the Tennessee adolescent transgender care ban. This means that the case will be argued in the Supreme Court in the next session starting in the fall. Read more at Erin in The Morning and Chase Strangio’s insta. If you’re a LawDork subscriber, a chat has been started.
June 13, 2024
Texas District Judge declares the Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students to be unlawful. It’s a mess and complicated because the judge ruled on 2020 guidance documents rather than the current lawsuits against the Biden administration’s 2024 rule-making.
The 2024 protections were slated to go into effect on August 1, 2024.
See LawDork for analysis.
May 14, 2024: 11th Circuit Court Ruling Supporting Insurance Coverage for Transgender Medicine
Erin Reed has published a substack about the 11th Circuit Court’s ruling that insurance exclusions for transgender medical care violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
The case: a public (county sheriff’s office) employee in Georgia was denied insurance coverage of gender affirming surgery. The employee sued, and won in district court. On May 13, 2024, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of transgender employees.
Important bits: this ruling applies to employment law, not civil rights law. The 11th Circuit Court has elsewhere ruled that care bans against transgender youth do not violate their civil rights. However, the ruling does reference the new protections against discrimination in healthcare recently announced by the Biden administration and the recent 4th Circuit Court ruling that discrimination against transgender health care is unconstitutional. See below for information on both of these recent rulings.
April 29, 2024 – Some Good News At The Federal Level!
There were three big news items in the past few days that could drastically affect access to transgender medical care in the United States: two rule releases by the Biden administration and one 4th Circuit Court order.
Youth Rights At School
Title IX: The Rights of LGBTQ+ Students and Victims of Campus Sexual Assaults
- New rules released by the U.S. Education Department revise federal rollbacks of student rights by the Trump administration.
- They take effect August 1, 2024.
- Addresses the rights of LGBTQ+ students in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges that receive federal funds.
- For the first time, LGBTQ+ students are formally protected by Title IX, which is a 1972 law addressing student rights. The new rules explicitly state that LGBTQ+ students are included in the protections prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
- The new rules do not address transgender youth’s access to participating in school sports.
- The rules formally un-do changes made to regulations around reporting, investigation, and disclosure of sexual harassment and assault on school campuses during the Trump administration. The definition of sexual harassment has been expanded, and colleges are no longer required to hold live hearings where the accused and accuser must face each other. All students will still have the right to equal access to evidence, an advisor present, and to appeals, but will be able to have separate, private hearings.
Several states have announced that they will instruct their school districts to not comply with these rule changes or that they intend to sue the U.S. government over these changes, including Florida, Idaho Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Articles for additional information:
- AP News: LGBTQ students would get new protections under Biden plan
- AP News: Biden’s new Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students, but avoid addressing transgender athletes
- Five Republican-led states sue over Biden’s new Title IX transgender protections
Rights To Healthcare
- The Department of Health and Human Services released rules protecting LGBTQ+ patients from discrimination by health providers and insurers who receive federal funding.
- The rules restore protections added by the Obama administration and rolled back by the Trump administration.
- This is an Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulation. The base of it is that the providers subject to the ACA may not limit access to care based on a patient’s sex assigned at birth or gender identity.
- Providers may claim an exemption due to religious beliefs.
For more information:
The 4th Circuit Court Rules That Gender Identity is a Protected Characteristic, Blocks Bans on Medicaid Coverage of Transgender Medical Care
Erin Reed has the first write-up.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday April 29, 2024 that Medicaid bans on covering transgender medical care are unconstitutional. The ruling also states that gender identity is a protected class (may not be discriminated against) and that denying care based on a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is discrimination.
- Applies to North Carolina and West Virginia (for more information on how Circuit Courts work, read our November, 2023 article WHAT THE HECK IS THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE UP TO?)
- The 4th Circuit is the federal appellate court for the states of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. North Carolina and West Virginia have youth care bans currently. South Carolina has a bill in legislature proposing to restrict youth care. Maryland has an executive order shield state protection in effect and a bill heading to the governor. Virginia is not a shield state and does not have a ban.
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