The Biden administration announced new regulations for Title IX on Friday governing LGBTQ participation in school sports and updating the process of reporting and investigating sexual misconduct.
These new changes, which take effect on August 1, officially add gender identity to the list of protections from sexual discrimination, meaning a university will not be allowed to treat any student differently based on the gender that they identify as, per Fox News.
The second change coming to Title IX is the removal of proceedings implemented under former President Donald Trump, which required schools to hold live hearings for sexual misconduct accusations that allowed students to cross-examine each other.
Now, schools are authorized to hold the hearings in private and will interview the students separately about what happened during the alleged incident, with the students allowed to suggest questions that the school asks, according to Fox News.
Universities will also be required to train employees about the “school’s obligation to address sex discrimination, as well as employees’ obligations to notify or provide contact information for the Title IX Coordinator,” as reported by ABC News.
These changes will apply to all colleges, elementary, and high schools that receive federal funding in any way.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona applauded the new changes while speaking with reporters and said that the updates make it “crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming and that respect their rights,” The New York Times reported.
Although the changes have been praised by many within the Biden administration, critics have presented concerns that male students will be allowed to enter female locker rooms due to their gender identity claims.
Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer and women’s sports advocate, criticized the updated guidelines and claimed the Biden administration was “unilaterally erasing fifty years of equal opportunity law for women.”
“The president and his administration can’t act like they care about women or our opportunities and then go and wipe out women’s protections under the country’s landmark sex equality law,” she said, according to Fox News.
“Title IX was passed over fifty years ago to end unjust discrimination in education, including athletics. I experienced this law [being] undermined when female athletes like myself were told to keep quiet when a male swimmer took home a title in the women’s division and deprived female athletes of awards, honors, and the opportunity to compete,” she said.