The U.S. Department of Education has rescinded a series of Title IX settlement agreements that had required schools to protect transgender students from discrimination, ending Biden-era civil rights enforcement actions affecting multiple school districts. The agreements, which had been reached with schools under the prior administration, had obligated districts to adopt policies affirming gender identity as part of their sex discrimination protections.

The rescissions mark a significant shift in federal civil rights enforcement under Title IX, the landmark 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education programs. The Trump administration has taken the position that Title IX protections apply to biological sex rather than gender identity, reversing the interpretation advanced by the Biden administration.

Schools that had been operating under the now-rescinded agreements are no longer bound by their terms, though they remain subject to Title IX's general provisions. The Education Department has not indicated whether it plans to pursue new enforcement actions against schools that maintain transgender-inclusive policies voluntarily.

The move is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to roll back federal recognition of gender identity in schools, which has also included executive orders directing agencies to enforce a binary definition of sex. Advocacy groups for transgender students have criticized the rescissions, arguing they leave vulnerable students without federal civil rights protections, while supporters of the administration's approach contend the agreements had overstepped the original scope of Title IX.