Update: On February 4, 2025, the Office of Civil Rights issued a new Dear College Letter (DCL) to replace its January 31, 2025 DCL, summarized below. The February 4 letter makes two notable changes. First, it removes a reference to biological definitions of sex in the 2020 Title IX regulations (the 2020 Title IX regulations did not include any definition of sex). Second, it deleted the statement in the January 31 DCL that “the President’s interpretation of the law governs because he alone controls and supervises subordinate officers.”
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on January 31, 2025, that it will enforce Title IX under the provisions of the 2020 Title IX regulations effective immediately.
The Department will no longer enforce the 2024 Title IX regulations, which contained expanded protections to include gender identity, sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, and sexual orientation. This shift follows a January 9, 2025, ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, which invalidated the 2024 Title IX Rule, along with previous court rulings that prohibited its enforcement in 26 states and hundreds of schools, colleges, and universities nationwide. In the announcement, the Department also directed any ongoing Title IX investigations initiated under the 2024 Title IX Rule “be immediately reoriented” to comply with the 2020 Title IX regulations.
In addition to the January 9, 2025 court ruling, the announcement cited a January 20, 2025, Executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” as reason for not enforcing the 2024 Title IX regulations. OCR will enforce Title IX from sex-based discrimination based on an individual’s biological sex at birth.
Next Steps and California Law Reminders
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore will continue to monitor developments related to Title IX.
In addition to complying with the 2020 Title IX Regulations, California educational institutions must continue to adhere to state law, which provides robust protections for individuals against discrimination and harassment based on sex, gender (including pregnancy status), gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
Additionally, under the California’s Education Code, institutions of higher education are required to implement comprehensive policies and procedures for preventing and addressing sexual harassment and related misconduct.
If your institution needs assistance with Title IX and compliance with overlapping federal and state law, including the implementation of policies, procedures, training or forms, please contact our Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno, San Diego, or Sacramento office.