Individual teams will still be able to keep trans athletes from playing, but the Education Department said that should only apply to the highest levels of competition.
Topline
The Biden Administration proposed new regulations Thursday aimed at curbing blanket bans keeping transgender athletes from participating in school sports, but it included a significant loophole letting school teams develop their own policies in what the Education Department billed as a compromise position on the increasingly volatile culture war issue.Key Facts
The new rule would add language to Title IX—a law prohibiting gender-based discrimination in school activities—stating individual teams at public schools and universities can ban athletes from competing on teams outside of their sex assigned at birth if factors like competitive fairness come into question.
However, the proposed rule would not allow schools to impose a “one-size-fits-all policy that categorically bans transgender students from participating on teams consistent with their gender identity”—after more than a dozen states passed sweeping laws restricting transgender school athletes.
The proposed policy appears to leave it solely at teams’ discretion to determine policies on transgender participation, but the Education Department said they should take into account “level of competition, and grade or education level” when coming up with rules.
