Recent updates to Title IX regulations from the U.S. Department of Education, along with legal challenges to those changes, have caused some confusion in Wisconsin school districts. The updated regulations clarify that Title IX protects all students from harassment and discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. These legal challenges have raised questions about when or whether these protections apply to Wisconsin students.
Under Wisconsin state and federal law, all school districts are already required to protect students from harassment and discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. This requirement exists under old Title IX regulations, new Title IX regulations, or even in the absence of any Title IX regulation at all.
Wisconsin law prohibits any form of discrimination or harassment against students based on their sex or sexual orientation. This includes discrimination based on sex stereotypes, gender identity, and sex characteristics. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s authority to enforce this law exists independently of the federal government’s authority under Title IX.
Additionally, Title IX protections against this type of discrimination have applied to Wisconsin students since at least 2017. In the case Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified Sch. Dist. No. 1 Bd. of Educ., the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (which oversees Wisconsin) ruled that discrimination based on sex stereotypes and gender non-conformance violates Title IX. This decision has been reaffirmed in subsequent cases, including A.C. by M.C. v. Metro. Sch. Dist. of Martinsville in 2023.
Title IX has long prohibited sex discrimination in all its forms, and regardless of any changes to the regulations, both Title IX and state law continue to protect students from sex-based discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
For specific questions about how these laws apply in your district, please reach out to your district’s legal counsel.