Executive Summary

  •  Title IX prohibits schools from discriminating on the basis of sex. Schools that violate the law can have their federal funding revoked or be sued in federal court for monetary damages.
  • The Supreme Court has made it clear that, while Title IX prohibits sex discrimination (including egregious sexual harassment), it does not prohibit all forms of sex-related speech.
  • Nevertheless, school administrators for decades have used Title IX as an excuse to punish disfavored speech and expression.
  • In June 2022, the Biden administration released draft regulations that vastly expand the categories of speech that it expects schools to punish as discriminatory sexual harassment under Title IX. 
  • Under the proposed rules, schools that do not crack down on ‘misgendering’ or the refusal to use preferred pronouns can have their federal funding revoked or be sued for monetary damages.
  • The new rules, thus, exacerbate the already problematic enforcement of Title IX by incentivizing repressive speech codes and campus cancel culture.