Washington D.C. — The Department of Education announced today it would rescind Title IX resolution agreements that protect students from harassment, discrimination, and hostile school environments. This action specifically targets trans, intersex, and nonbinary students.  

Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center, issued the following statement in response. 

“There is absolutely no basis for what the Department of Education is doing, and it is unimaginably cruel. Title IX exists to ensure that students are protected from discrimination and treated with dignity so that they can learn and thrive in our schools. It’s always been about that. It’s what students, families, lawmakers and advocates fought for when Title IX was passed decades ago. But the Trump administration’s Department of Education has spent its limited resources to strip Title IX of that very purpose. 

“Real complaints of discrimination and sexual assault are going unanswered by the Department of Education while conservative lawmakers continue to escalate their attacks on a small minority of students. Parents, teachers and students need the Department to focus on addressing real harms on campuses instead of rolling back policies that keep all students safe. 

“We should all be alarmed at the Trump administration’s cruel escalation of their anti-trans agenda. When they push laws that explicitly target trans people or attempt to use scientifically inaccurate language to define sex, they are also inevitably targeting all women and girls. They want to control what we do, how we look, and how we act until we are pushed out of public life. But we are not going anywhere.”