Justice Neil Gorsuch has stirred up some confusion among conservatives following his dissent in a recent Supreme Court case regarding Title IX regulations. The Court, in a 5-4 decision, opted not to grant an emergency request from the Biden administration to reinstate provisions aiming to protect gender identity and sexual orientation in educational settings.
The new Title IX rules, which went into effect on August 1, have faced opposition from various Republican state attorneys general, leading to enforcement bans in 26 states. Gorsuch, aligning with Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, took a surprising stance against the conservative majority.
Sotomayor penned the dissent, arguing that the injunctions issued were overly broad and suggested that any relief should be more precise. This dissent sends the matter back to lower courts for reconsideration.
The reaction on social media has been critical, with Senator Mike Lee questioning what led to Gorsuch’s stance. Other conservative voices, including journalist Macy Gunnell and MAGA supporter Domenica D’Elia, echoed similar sentiments of disbelief.
As it stands, this decision doesn’t reveal how the Supreme Court might eventually rule on the Biden administration’s Title IX adjustments, including those concerning gender identity and sexual orientation.
The lawsuits from Republican states argue that allowing transgender students access to bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity could cause “irreparable harm.” However, Biden’s new Title IX rules also cover unrelated issues such as protections against discrimination based on pregnancy, and require schools to support breastfeeding students.
Notably, Gorsuch had previously sided with both Chief Justice John Roberts and the Court’s liberal justices in a 2021 ruling that extended protections against employment discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
