Conservatives have been using their obsession with states’ rights as an alibi for resisting civil rights legislation for, well, forever. That trend continued on Friday, when a federal Trump-appointed judge ruled that directives extending civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ students can’t be enforced, The New York Times reported. The ruling is temporary for now, putting a hold on the Biden administration’s previous guidance to schools about who is protected under federal law. It’s hard to tell right now what this means for the future of civil rights in this country. For those of us who aren’t legal scholars, here’s a breakdown of what happened.
In 2020, SCOTUS ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex, applies to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendment, also prohibits similar discrimination on the basis of sex, specifically in educational activities that receive federal funding — like public school sports, a common topic for Republican lawmakers to focus on with anti-trans legislation.
