The Trump administration announced Monday that it had reversed a Biden era policy broadening the federal ban on sex discrimination in schools to cover LGBTQ people. The decision dismantles a policy that explicitly extended those federal protections to LGBTQ students.

The announcement marks a direct change in how the federal government applies the school discrimination ban. Under the Biden administration policy, LGBTQ people were covered by the broader interpretation of protections against sex discrimination in schools.

The administration’s reversal drew a sharp response from Shiwali Patel of the National Women’s Law Center. Patel focused her criticism on what the decision means for students facing sexual harassment and assault, as well as transgender students targeted through the administration’s approach to Title IX.

Patel said sexual harassment and assault remain pervasive in schools. She argued that the government should be doing everything possible under the law to protect student survivors of sexual violence, rather than turning away from what those survivors need.

“Sexual harassment and assault continue to be pervasive in schools and, to the fullest extent possible, we should be working to enforce the laws that protect student survivors of sexual violence. Yet Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Trump administration have decided to ignore what survivors need, instead weaponizing Title IX to attack trans students.”

Her statement placed responsibility on Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Trump administration. Patel accused them of ignoring survivors while using Title IX as a vehicle for attacks on transgender students.

That criticism links two concerns within the same federal policy fight. Patel pointed to the continuing prevalence of sexual harassment and assault in schools, while also condemning the administration’s treatment of transgender students under Title IX.

The administration’s action does not merely adjust the language surrounding the Biden era policy. It reverses the policy that had broadened the federal school discrimination ban so that LGBTQ people were covered.

The central issue is therefore who receives protection under the federal ban on sex discrimination in schools. The Biden era policy had expanded that coverage to LGBTQ people, and the Trump administration has now reversed that expansion.

Patel’s response also emphasized enforcement. She said laws protecting student survivors of sexual violence should be enforced to the fullest extent possible, particularly while harassment and assault continue to be pervasive in schools.

Instead, Patel said, McMahon and the administration had chosen to ignore survivors’ needs. Her criticism portrayed the reversal as part of an effort to weaponize Title IX against transgender students rather than use federal authority to protect vulnerable students.

The Trump administration announced the reversal on Monday, making its rejection of the Biden era approach explicit. The policy change strips away the broader interpretation that had brought LGBTQ people within the federal prohibition on sex discrimination in schools.

For the National Women’s Law Center, the reversal cannot be separated from the experiences of student survivors. Patel’s statement argued that federal officials should prioritize enforcement of protections for those facing sexual violence in educational settings.

Her remarks also made clear that transgender students are at the center of the dispute. Patel accused the administration of using Title IX to attack those students while failing to respond adequately to what survivors need.

The policy reversal delivers another stark shift from the Biden administration’s treatment of LGBTQ protections in schools. This time, the administration is retreating from a broader federal discrimination policy while advocates warn that survivors and transgender students are being pushed aside.