WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Thursday proposed new rules governing the way schools should respond to gender discrimination, repealing key pieces of the Trump administration’s policies that narrow the scope of investigations into sexual misconduct on campus and enforce of transgender students in law.
The proposal will revise an expansive rule finalized by former Education Minister Betsy DeVos, which for the first time codifies how K-12 colleges and schools investigate sexual violence on campus. The proposal will also address discrimination under Title IX, a federal law signed 50 years ago today that prohibits the exclusion or denial of gender-based educational benefits in federally funded programs.
The Trump administration’s 2020 rules narrowed the definition of sexual harassment, expanded the due process of students accused of harassment and assault, relieved schools of some legal responsibilities, and required schools to conduct court proceedings called “hearings of harassment and assault.” live. ” which allowed cross-examination of the parties. Ms DeVos’s rules do not define “gender-based harassment”, and the administration itself has taken the position that Title IX does not cover gender identity.
The Biden administration says the current rules “weaken the protection of survivors of sexual violence and reduce the promise of education without discrimination.”
“The changes we propose will fully protect students from all forms of gender discrimination,” Education Minister Miguel A. Cardona said in remarks Thursday morning, adding that the new rule “will clarify that these protections involve discrimination based on sexuality.” orientation and gender identity ”
The proposal is sure to clash with state and federal lawmakers and attract legal action from conservative groups that began to oppose the department’s position last year that transgender students are protected by federal law.
Biden’s proposed provisions, which must go through a long period of public debate before coming into force, will review a number of key provisions related to investigations into sexual violence.
Biden’s rules expand the definition of what constitutes sexual harassment and expand the types of episodes, such as incidents reported outside of their educational programs, that schools are required to investigate. The rules will also make live hearings optional, no longer required, and will allow schools to use a process that establishes the credibility of parties and witnesses, although it does not require cross-examination.
But one of the main changes to Biden’s rule is the inclusion of sexual harassment, which includes “stereotypes, gender characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity,” according to the proposed rules.
The department will issue a separate regulation on how Title IX applies to athletics, including how schools should determine the eligibility of students to participate in a men’s or women’s athletics team.
The issue has become a cultural war in the past year, with Republican-dominated legislatures in at least 18 states imposing restrictions on the participation of transgender people in sports in public schools, and at least a dozen states passing laws with some restrictions.
“The department recognizes that the standards for students participating in men’s and women’s athletic teams are evolving in real time,” said Dr. Cardona. “So we decided to make separate rules on how schools can determine eligibility, while maintaining the guarantee of non-discrimination in Title IX.”
“I strongly reject the efforts to politicize these protections and sow division in our schools,” he added.
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