On Aug. 22, Tennessee State Representative John Ragan sent a letter to multiple Tennessee universities in which he advised them to remove any policies stating that LGBTQIA+ students are a protected class under Title IX.
The most notable recipient of the letter was East Tennessee State University President Brian Noland. In a public statement on Sept. 2, the university claimed that its Title IX protections would remain in effect.
This decision came in response to a document the U.S. Department of Education released which outlined new regulations to protect LGBTQIA+ students, specifically against discrimination stemming from a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The directive follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. The court case, decided in 2020, expanded on Title IX protections and stated that “an individual’s homosexuality or transgender status is not relevant to employment decisions.”
Following this court case, the Biden administration moved forward to issue the document which reinterpreted Title IX by saying sex discrimination includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the directive. According to this lawsuit, which was filed in a coalition of 20 states, the order usurped “authority that properly belongs to Congress, the States, and the people.”
The defendants, including the U.S. Department of Education, filed to dismiss the lawsuit. The dismissal was denied and Eastern District of Tennessee Judge Charles Atchley ruled in favor of Slatery.
According to the court document, “Plaintiffs have identified a conflict between Defendants’ guidance and what their state laws require.” The state laws referenced refer specifically to two laws regarding transgender students and their rights to self identify.
One Tennessee bill restricts “students of the male sex” from being involved in college sports designated for women. Another one puts schools at risk of being sued if they allow transgender people in bathrooms or locker rooms.
The University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd provided a response to Ragan stating no policies had been changed in response to the letter from the Department of Education, and he does not believe the university’s Title IX policies break either state or federal law.
Donna Braquet, a librarian at UT, is currently teaching a First Year Studies seminar on queer history. She thought this move set a bad precedent for other rights to be restricted or removed.
“I think the fact that we have a member of our state legislature calling for the undoing of a federal protection – how can that not make the university unsafe?” Braquet said.
Along with this directive, UT has also had to face being ranked as “the most unfriendly university to LGBTQIA+ students in the country.” This title comes from The Princeton Review and is based around surveys given to students.
Braquet has been an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights on the UT campus for over a decade and was a founding member of the Pride Center. The Pride Center provides resources for students who identify as LGBTQIA+, and has a rocky history on campus. It has been vandalized and was defunded in 2016.
Greer Henry, a junior at the UT and a Resident Assistant on campus, identifies as trans non-binary. They have dedicated time to fighting for LGBTQIA+ protections and queer housing. However, their experience as a queer student on campus has left them vulnerable.
“Aside from being literally deadnamed in class and on Canvas… I’ve experienced a couple of instances of being like on the Strip or in a POD market and somebody calling me the ‘F’ slur. That’s happened to me like three times now,” Henry said.
Henry did not take any of the matters further or report the incidents.
“I don’t really feel like the university would care very much,” Henry said.
