It’s Labor Day 2024, so in the United States, most youth will be back in school by the end of this week. There has been A LOT of churn, change, and court orders about youth rights in schools in the past few months, especially regarding Title IX. We’re not experts, but we can put together a quick guide to current protections for LGBTQIA+ youth in schools and some resource lists. (Note: “LGBTQI+” is the terminology used by Title IX.)
Federal Protections In Schools
In April 2024, the Biden Administration expanded the definition of sex discrimination and the protections for students against sex discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. This expansion explicitly includes sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination under the umbrella of sex discrimination and creates protections for students.
Several Republican State attorney generals and right-wing groups sued the federal government, resulting in a patchwork of who is protected and who is not. While the Biden expansions went into effect on August 1st, these same expansions are blocked in 26 states and in some specific schools in other states.
The Department of Justice asked for a stay of some of those blocks. On Friday, August 16th, the Supreme Court denied that request.
So, Where are Title IX Protections Are In Place?
The Education Department cannot enforce protections from gender identity or sexual orientation-based discrimination to students in:
- Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
- There are also specific schools in other states where the protections are blocked. Is your school On The List?
However, state and local protections, where they exist, are not blocked. Nor are other federal rights and protections.
Here’s what Title IX does (official fact sheet here):
Prohibits discrimination against LGBTQI+ students, employees, and others: prohibits discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics in federally funded education programs.
All schools that receive federal funding are required to have a Title IX coordinator. This position may be at the district level for public schools. Contact your school administrative offices to get in touch with your Title IX coordinator.
All schools have to:
- Publish their nondiscrimination policies.
- Publish information about how to make a complaint and the complaint process.
Title IX regulations that apply to all schools which receive federal funding:
- When sex discrimination is identified in educational programs or activities, schools are required to stop it, fix it, and prevent it from happening in the future.
- Schools are required to support student access to educational programs or activities during a complaint and support students in the resolution process.
- Schools are required to act quickly and effectively, with a fair, transparent, and reliable process that includes trained, unbiased decision makers.
- Share personally identifiable information except to parents, or when consent has already been given.
Schools that are subject to the expanded definition of sex discrimination in Title IX cannot:
- Prevent students from participating in sex-separate activities consistent with their gender identity (criteria for joining athletic teams are NOT included.)
- Prevent students from using bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity.
Local Laws To Protect Students
Have we mentioned lately how much we love the Movement Advancement Project? (Maps are available, sortable by issue or state, at https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps)
Anti-bullying laws that protect LGBTQIA+ students (accessed 8/27/24):
Movement Advancement Project. “Equality Maps: Safe Schools Laws.” https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/safe_school_laws. Accessed 08/27/2024.
School Nondiscrimination Laws:
Movement Advancement Project. “Equality Maps: Safe Schools Laws.” https://www.mapresearch.org/equality-maps/safe_school_laws. Accessed 8/27/2024.
These maps are also available in table format.
Other MAP maps about student rights:
Other Resources for Youth, Families, and Schools
We love Gender Spectrum’s Gender Inclusive Schools Resources page. While you’re there, check out their huge collection of gender inclusive resources and tools for youth and families.
GLSEN has published a Title IX-specific action and resource page.
The Human Rights Campaign Welcoming Schools project.
The U.S. Department of Education LGBTQI Education Toolkit.
The Trevor Project Creating Safer Spaces in Schools for LGBTQ Young People (they also have a great resource list!)
For Florida families – Equality Florida linked to a shared Google Drive folder of 2024 Guidelines by District for LGBTQ Youth in a recent newsletter. They do state that “What we have been consistently hearing from the parents of LGBTQ youth is that while these guides are far from perfect, there are components of them that will be life-saving.”
We follow both Erin Reed (Erin In The Morning) and Chris Geidner (Law Dork) for breaking news and analysis.
Other QueerDoc articles and pages:
- 20 More Proven Supports for LGBTQ Youth
- LGBTQ+ Students: Know Your 3 Powerful Rights At School
- Discrimination At School? Here’s How To Fight Back
- Scale Up Your Safety Strategies In and Out of School
- We also try to post updates on our State of the Federal Landscape and individual state pages (see our Blog Index.)
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