In a move that perhaps only a federal judge in Texas could pull off with a straight face, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor has ruled that the Biden administration improperly attempted to rewrite federal law barring sex discrimination in schools by applying it to LGBTQ students. This verdict, delivered from the conservative setting of Fort Worth, is a striking reminder that legal interpretations of “inclusion” can vary quite dramatically depending on geography.

The lawsuit, predictably, was brought forth by Texas' Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton seems to have taken it upon himself to ensure that Title IX is kept as far away from inclusivity as possible. Paxton and company found themselves up in arms over the Education Department's guidance that threatened to withhold federal funding from schools if they dared to treat students equally regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation. It’s almost as if the concept of treating human beings with basic dignity was too radical a notion for Texas politics (NBC, Fox).

Judge O’Connor’s ruling concluded that the Department of Education’s guidance was invalid and could not be enforced in the Lone Star State. This win for Paxton and company, however, doesn't touch the broader formal, binding regulations adopted by the Education Department in April, which apply Title IX to LGBTQ students (NBC, Fox).

Ironically, the original guidance was a direct response to a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling stating that the federal law banning workplace sex bias extends protections to LGBTQ workers (NBC). That ruling somehow managed to make it through unscathed in federal courts outside of Texas. Clearly, inclusivity is in the eye of the judicial beholder.

For those lamenting that American schools might turn into dens of equality, Judge O’Connor voiced concerns that allowing the Biden administration’s action would "transform American education" and usurp legislative authority from Congress (Fox). If there's anything more terrifying than young minds steeped in acceptance and diversity, it’s, obviously, the threat to the legislative power of one of the least popular institutions in the country.

While Judge O’Connor's decision stands, the Biden administration is currently appealing another 2022 decision by a federal judge in Tennessee that blocked the same guidance in 20 Republican-dominated states. It appears that the battle for LGBTQ rights in education is set to be fought courtroom by courtroom, with some judges wielding gavels less like tools of justice and more like hammers flattening out any wrinkles of progress (NBC, Fox).

In his victorious statement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asserted that the ruling prevents Biden’s “extremist agenda” from weaponizing Title IX (Fox). The term “extremist,” of course, is used here to describe actions like not harassing students based on who they are—a concept apparently so outlandish it borders on sci-fi for some.

For now, at least in Texas, LGBTQ students are expected to take a hint—one delivered with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer—until the next legal skirmish, where perhaps another court will provide a glimmer of hope or just another round of legal whack-a-mole in the name of civil rights.

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