Statement: Public Outcry Forces Trump Administration to Delay Backdoor Attack on Title IX Protections

July 16. 2025

For Immediate Release
Jul 16, 2025

Media Contact
Nazirah Ahmad
[email protected]

Opposition from Equal Rights Advocates and other gender justice organizations forced the Department of Energy to delay harmful rule changes that would impact transgender students

SAN FRANCISCO, July 16, 2025 – Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) today celebrated a victory in the fight to protect student rights when the Trump Administration announced it would delay implementation of rules changes that would have eliminated Title IX protections for transgender students in school sports following public outcry and adverse comments. 

The Department of Energy announced Tuesday that due to the receipt of “significant adverse comments,” the effective date of the direct final rule to ban transgender students from school sports has been delayed from July 16, 2025 to Sept. 12, 2025. This delay represents a direct result of gender justice advocates’ campaign that exposed the Administration’s use of regulatory loopholes to bypass normal public oversight.

“This victory demonstrates that when civil rights organizations and the public unite, we have the power to successfully push back against this Administration.”

– Kel O’Hara, Senior Attorney

“This victory demonstrates that when civil rights organizations and the public unite, we have the power to successfully push back against this Administration,” said Kel O’Hara, Senior Attorney for Policy & Education Equity at Equal Rights Advocates. “The Trump Administration tried to exploit an obscure regulatory loophole meant only for minor administrative updates to gut fundamental protections for female athletes and transgender students. Public outcry has forced them to retreat from this calculated assault on both civil rights and democratic transparency.”

The Administration’s use of Direct Final Rules (DFRs) through the Department of Energy was designed to avoid the standard public notice and comment period typically required for substantive regulatory changes. ERA submitted a public comment to the Department of Energy on June 16 opposing the rule changes. 

“The Administration claims this rule change will protect women and girls. But statistically, it will negatively impact more cisgender women and girls than transgender students,” said O’Hara. “We successfully exposed this backdoor elimination of student protections, and now we must continue the fight to stop these harmful changes entirely.”

If allowed to stand, the changes would open the door for schools to ban transgender students from school sports and would also impact many cisgender girls and women, who currently have the legal right to try out for any no-contact men’s sports team if their school does not provide a women’s team equivalent.

ERA is calling on advocates, civil rights organizations, and the public to continue submitting formal opposition during this extended comment period. The Department of Energy must now either withdraw the rule entirely or issue a new final rule that addresses the significant adverse comments by September 12. 

Unless significant continued opposition is maintained, these sweeping changes could still take effect in September, making it critical that civil rights organizations, advocates, and the public continue to submit formal opposition to prevent this backdoor elimination of student protections.

To request an interview with ERA experts, contact Blake Case at [email protected] or (601) 832-6079.

### 

About Equal Rights Advocates
Equal Rights Advocates fights for gender justice in workplaces and schools across the country. Since 1974, they have been fighting on the front lines of social justice to protect and advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of all gender identities through groundbreaking legal cases and bold legislation that sets the stage for the rest of the nation.