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The Trump administration on Monday officially the Biden-era Title IX rule, which extended protections against sexual harassment and assault to LGBTQ students. But officials stopped short of including a definition of sex to mean identified as male or female at birth. 

That step is expected in a , which has not yet been published.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon previewed the change on a Fox sports show Sunday, calling it a 鈥渇ull return鈥� to the rule during President Donald Trump鈥檚 first term. 

鈥淚t was boys in boys鈥� sports and girls in girls鈥� sports,鈥� said told OutKick host Dan Zaksheske. 鈥淎ll of the Biden rules and regulations are being rescinded.鈥�

The secretary focused on the administration鈥檚 efforts to keep transgender students from competing in women鈥檚 sports and highlighted court decisions that struck down the 2024 rule. But the 2020 rule, completed under former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, didn鈥檛 explicitly ban trans students from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. It did limit the types of sexual harassment and assault complaints that schools had to investigate and required live hearings so male students could respond to accusations. McMahon didn鈥檛 discuss those aspects. The 2020 rule drew praise from conservatives and intense opposition from advocates who said it downplayed sexual abuse and left victims unprotected. 

In a statement, GOP Rep. Tim Walberg, who chairs the House education committee, said, 鈥淩eturning to the 2020 regulations restores longstanding protections for women and girls that the Biden-Harris administration attempted to dismantle and realigns Title IX policy with court precedents.鈥�

But for some advocates, the department鈥檚 move revives earlier concerns. 

鈥淭hey’re eroding protections against sexual harassment and assault in education even though it continues to remain pervasive,鈥� said Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the National Women鈥檚 Law Center. The 2024 rule required districts to promptly investigate complaints, including those that occur off school grounds, and clarified 鈥淭itle IX rights for LGBTQIA+ students and pregnant students who, to this day, too often are pushed out of school because of discrimination.鈥�

The department is currently , based on civil rights data, to ensure they appropriately handle complaints of staff-on-student sexual misconduct. But the department has faced for not addressing a backlog of sexual abuse complaints. Patel questioned why the administration hasn鈥檛 weighed in on a civil lawsuit by a former Cornell University student who alleges she was drugged and gang raped by seven current and former members of a fraternity. Prosecutors plan to into the 2024 case. 

When Trump took office, he immediately issued an that labeled the Biden-era rule 鈥済ender ideology extremism.鈥� Officials quickly announced that they would only and have taken aggressive steps to impose their interpretation that the regulation prevents trans students from participating on girls鈥� teams or using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. 

Those include investigations in multiple districts and threats to withhold federal funds from northern Virginia districts. The Department of Justice has also sued , and over gender identity policies. 

鈥楪reater comfort鈥�

Zaksheske asked McMahon whether the settlement the Department of Education reached with the University of Pennsylvania, in which leaders erased a transgender swimmer鈥檚 records and issued apologies to athletes who lost to her, would be the 鈥渇ramework鈥� officials would seek in other cases.

鈥淲e would look at each individual circumstance,鈥� McMahon said. 鈥淭here are a couple of times that girls have actually even been injured by a male competing against them.鈥� 

Rescinding the 2024 rule, she said, would give women and parents 鈥済reater comfort.鈥�

Because of litigation, the 2024 rule never took effect in roughly half the states. Shortly before former President Joe Biden left office, a federal district court in Kentucky ruled in filed by multiple GOP-led states that the 2024 rule would have compromised girls鈥� privacy and was an example of federal overreach.  

The Supreme Court also ruled in June that states can block transgender athletes from playing on girls鈥� and women鈥檚 sports teams. But the decision didn鈥檛 settle the ongoing debate over whether Title IX requires participation in sports be based on biological sex determined at birth. 

That鈥檚 what the administration plans to do in a forthcoming amendment. Part of its , the text would clarify 鈥渢hat implementation of Title IX is to be based on sex, which shall refer exclusively to an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.鈥�

It鈥檚 unlikely the public will be able to comment on the amendment. Patel noted that the administration has repeatedly sought to . 

To some attorneys advising districts and colleges, the last few years have felt like the 鈥渨ild west.鈥�

鈥淚t really is dependent on their boards鈥� and their chancellors鈥� own ideology to determine how much they’re going to follow the Trump administration,鈥� said Sandra Aboy, founder and CEO of Title IX Consulting Group. Districts and states with trans-inclusive policies are at a higher risk of facing consequences under this administration, but 鈥渟ome are fighting back with their .鈥�

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