U.S. judge upholds LGBTQ student protections in a win for the Biden administration

A federal judge in Alabama on Tuesday refused to block the Biden administration from enforcing new anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ students in four Republican-led states, breaking with six other judges who have said the rules are invalid.

U.S. District Judge Annemarie Axon in Birmingham in a 122-page ruling, rejected various arguments that the four states led by Alabama made in challenging U.S. Department of Education regulations that say a federal law barring sex discrimination in education extends to gender identity.

The regulations also bar harassment against LGBTQ students, such as refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns, and changes the procedures schools must use in investigating accusations of student misconduct.

Axon, an appointee of Republican former President Donald Trump, said the claims by the states and several conservative groups were conclusory and not backed by court precedent.

“Although Plaintiffs may dislike the Department’s rules, they have failed to show a substantial likelihood of success in proving the Department’s rulemaking was unreasonable or not reasonably explained,” Axon wrote.

A total of 26 Republican-led states have sued over the rule, which is set to take effect on Thursday. Six other judges have blocked the rule from being enforced in 21 of those states pending the outcome of underlying lawsuits.

Federal appeals courts have declined to stay two of those rulings involving 10 states pending the Biden administration’s appeals. The administration last week asked the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily set aside those decisions.

The office of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, and the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to