States that fail to comply would risk legal action or the loss of federal education funding.

The order, which calls for a broader application of Donald Trump-appointed justice Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion in last year’s Bostock v Clayton county ruling, mandates that every agency must act to ensure the enforcement of this new rule within 100 days of 20 January.Ĭrucially, it states the Bostock decision should also apply to Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination in federally funded schools, in keeping with Biden campaign promise that his Department of Education would investigate and address any violations of transgender students’ rights. “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports,” the directive states, adding that the incoming administration is committed to “prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation”. Among the flurry of executive orders signed on Wednesday, Biden called on all federal agencies to enforce a US supreme court decision from last year that expanded the definition of sex discrimination to include discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as gender identity – with language that explicitly referenced the arena of high school and college sports.

Joe biden executive orders signed