On Monday, April 6th, the Trump administration announced it would be terminating resolution agreements with several school districts.
Previous administrations had accused districts of violating Title IX, a law that prohibits gender discrimination in schools, by discriminating against transgender students. The Department of Education now claims this was an “illegal” overreach of Title IX.
But what happens to future trans students if this law doesn’t protect them?
Trump’s trans agenda
In the 2024 campaign, Trump spent over $17 million on anti-trans ads. They painted his opponent, Kamala Harris, as an “extreme” ally of trans people who did not care about “normal” Americans. A common tagline was, “Kamala Harris is for they/them. I am for you.” Although these ads were both hateful and bizarre, they shifted the campaign by 2.7 percentage points in Trump’s favor.
In his inaugural address, Trump claimed, “There are only two genders, male and female.” Shortly after, he signed an Executive Order proclaiming the government would only recognize men and women as legitimate genders.
Since then, Republican rhetoric and policy have grown more hostile to the trans community. The first version of the 2026 budget bill, for example, sought to ban any federal funding for gender-affirming care (The Senate dropped this provision from the final bill). The Trump administration has banned trans people from serving in the military, removed references to trans people from government websites, and threatened to pull federal funding from state sex ed programs that discuss trans identity.
The Executive Order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” declares that any teacher who helps a minor “socially transition” would be charged with sexual exploitation. Social transition refers to when a trans or nonbinary person comes out, and adopts a new name and pronouns that fit their identity. Some states, such as Texas, have adopted laws against social transition, which force teachers to deadname students (calling them the name they want to give up by transitioning). Other states have passed laws forcing schools to “out” trans students to their parents, such as Idaho.
These laws don’t just hide or stifle identities – they end lives. According to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit working to prevent LGBTQ+ suicide, the suicide rate of transgender and gender non-conforming teenagers increased by as much as 72% in states that passed anti-trans laws in the following years. When conservatives talk about ending “transness,” this inevitably means ending trans people. The only real “trans agenda” is, and has always been, keeping them alive.
Infinite reasons to care about Title IX
In the face of this year-long surge in anti-trans laws, why does Title IX, specifically, matter?
Title IX is most associated with women’s sports: it requires all public schools and universities not to discriminate in sports based on gender. Before this law was passed in 1972, only 2% of public university athletic budgets went to women’s sports. Few women could participate, the programs were of low quality, and hardly any women could get athletic scholarships. While many Americans seem to think that Republican transphobia is a “problem,” and support basic equality for trans people, strong majorities don’t like seeing trans women in women’s sports.
One commonly given reason is that trans women will have an innate advantage due to higher testosterone levels. This is not true, as many factors influence a person’s athletic performance. Another is that, if trans women are alone in locker rooms (or other gendered spaces) with cis women, they will harm them. This is a dangerous lie that perpetuates violence against trans people. Trans women and girls deserve better than to be denied athletic opportunities and the community they create because of myths. Also, cis women and girls deserve better than invasive “sex tests,“ which ensure a player’s gender is aligned with the sex they were assigned at birth, just to get on a team.
Title IX doesn’t just protect sports– it states that any public school cannot discriminate by gender in any activities. These include academic clubs, field trips, or other state-funded educational programs. These anti-discrimination protections allow women to learn and pursue their interests while gaining the skills needed for future careers. If trans people don’t have access to these opportunities, it will tangibly narrow their window to the future.
Title IX protects students from gender-based violence and outcome differences. It defines sexual harassment as a form of gender discrimination. If a public school or university “acts with deliberate indifference to known acts of harassment in its programs or activities,” to the point where it effectively bars someone’s access to an activity, they can be held liable. It also protects pregnant and parenting students. It gives them the right to be absent from school for as long as a doctor says is necessary, and allows them to continue to participate in university life.
Sexual assault protections are essential for trans students because the rates of sexual violence they face are extremely high. Almost half of trans and gender diverse people experience sexual assault in their lifetime. The trauma of sexual violence can significantly harm school performance and even lead to someone dropping out. If Title IX does not grant pregnant trans women and nonbinary students the same protections as pregnant cis women and girls, schools could bar them from activities or deny them the legal right to recover from pregnancy.
None of this has happened yet. However, the government seems unwilling to enforce Title IX protections for trans people. And with a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court, the law may back them up. For now, claiming that trans people are not part of Title IX is still significant because of the cultural message. Title IX is more than a law – it is a cultural symbol of women’s empowerment. Last June, Trump declared that the month should be a “Title IX” Month, refusing to recognize Pride Month. That, and his removal of trans people from Title IX now, sends a clear message that women can only rise if LGBTQ+ people are pushed down (and erases those who are both).
Locker room (talk)
Trump’s transphobic attacks have escalated to the point where quite a few people, including transgender Senator Sarah McBride, have asked, “Why is the right so obsessed with trans people?” Trans people make up only 1% of the population. And despite myths about trans predators, there is no evidence to suggest trans people are more likely to commit violent crimes. They are actually four times as likely to be victims of violent crime.
But Trump’s insistence that trans people are a danger to women is a convenient cover for his own predatory behavior. As of 2023, about twenty-seven women have accused Trump of sexual assault. Trump’s name is in the Epstein files. He has admitted to grabbing women inappropriately and barging into women’s changing rooms. His policy agenda (which has included cutting 70% of the State Department’s anti-human trafficking efforts, slashing funds for the Office on Violence Against Women by $208 million, and eliminating the Gender Policy Council) clearly does not prioritize women’s safety. Nevertheless, white women voted for Trump by 5 points in the 2024 election. Republicans know they need these votes, and if they can tell women they are “protecting” them from trans people, that’s one way to keep them on board.
But even beyond the Republican base’s character and history, trans people threaten the larger, older force of patriarchy. Why? Because their existence threatens patriarchal narratives about why gender-based violence happens. Back in 2016, when Trump was running for his first term, he justified talking about grabbing women without their consent as “locker room talk.” In other words, it’s normal for men to talk this way when women aren’t around. It’s even normal for men to want to sexually assault women. It’s just part of their “nature.”
Now, none of that is true. Nothing about a man’s body or “nature” compels him to harm women. If we buy into those ideas, however, and we buy into the idea that trans women are men, then, yes, trans women entering “real women’s” spaces would be a nightmare. But if trans women were entering women’s spaces, like locker rooms, and it wasn’t the end of the world, it could be a wake-up call for the Republican women who fear, but do not understand, sexual violence. Because if testosterone and XY chromosomes don’t predispose someone to violence, violence is a choice. And if it’s a choice, men need to be held accountable.
The real danger has never been trans people. The real disadvantage women face today comes from men who believe they have the right to define who women are and what they can do. Refusing to enforce Title IX protections for trans students doesn’t solve any real problems. Instead, it pushes some of the most isolated, vulnerable people in this country off their path to future success. And all people, no matter who they are, have a right to a future.
