The Department of Education has announced a significant shift in Title IX enforcement, returning to the traditional interpretation of sex-based discrimination following recent court decisions and executive action. The change, celebrated by Alliance Defending Freedom, effectively reverses Obama and Biden-era policies that had expanded protections to include gender identity.
In a Dear Colleague letter issued January 31, 2025, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor announced that the Department would revert to enforcing Title IX under the 2020 rule rather than the recently invalidated 2024 provisions. The decision follows a January 9 ruling from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in the case of Tennessee v. Cardona, which vacated the 2024 Title IX Rule nationwide.
The policy shift gained additional momentum when President Trump, on his first day back in office, signed an executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order directs federal agencies to interpret sex as “two sexes, male and female” that are “not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”
In a statement on Alliance Defending Freedom Media, Alliance Defending Freedom CEO, President, and General Counsel Kristen Waggonerpraised the decision, writing,“President Trump has spent his first days in office undoing some of the most harmful policies of his predecessor. Today, his Department of Education continued that good work by abandoning the Biden-era Title IX rule: an unlawful attempt to redefine ‘sex’ to include gender identity. As the basis for its action, the DOE cited a recent court ruling that struck down the rule in a case litigated by ADF and a coalition of states led by Tennessee.”
What is Alliance Defending Freedom?
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, marriage and family, and the sanctity of life.
Alliance Defending Freedom Church & Ministry Alliance division of Alliance Defending Freedom focuses on protecting religious institutions’ constitutional freedoms and operational independence through legal advocacy.
The changes come amid a broader national debate about transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports. The issue gained prominence through cases like that of a young track athlete in Tennessee, who reported losing competitive opportunities after a transgender athlete joined her middle school team. Her experience became part of the Alliance Defending Freedom Tennessee v. Cardona case that ultimately led to the nationwide injunction against the 2024 rule.
The House of Representatives has also weighed in on the issue, passing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act on January 14. The bill, which now heads to the Senate, would codify that allowing male athletes to compete on women’s teams violates Title IX’s original intent.
25 states have passed laws restricting transgender participation in women’s sports. Two cases, from West Virginia and Idaho, are seeking Supreme Court review of the issue.
The Department of Education has instructed that all open Title IX investigations initiated under the 2024 rule must be “immediately reoriented” to align with the 2020 guidelines. The change affects how educational institutions nationwide must handle sex-based discrimination complaints.