Department of Education Withdraws Proposed Rules On Single-Sex Sports Participation By Gender Identity

In April 2023, the Biden administration proposed rules that would have largely barred policies forbidding students from participating in single-sex sports according to gender identity rather than sex.

Terry Miller, who identifies as a transgender girl, is second from the left. She won the final of the 55-meter race over Andraya Yearwood, who is on the far left and also identifies as trans, at the Connecticut girls Class S indoor track meet at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut.

The Biden administration’s Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, today withdrew a proposed rule that would have largely barred policies that forbade student athletes from participating in single-sex sports according to their gender identity rather than their sex. Proposed in April 2023, these rules did provide some carve-outs for blocking students who identify as transgender from participating in teams of the opposite sex.

Paul Compton, who was general counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 2018 to 2020 stated on X: “This is a cynical step—preserving the ability to do this in the future. If the rules had not been withdrawn, they would be subject to the Congress…