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The Trump administration's consideration in defining gender as a biological condition determined by a person's gender at birth could cause "administrative chaos" at universities which employ Obama-era rules, where "there's no test" to "prove that a person is a certain gender."
Under the Obama administration, the question as to whether or not the law protects people on the basis of their gender identity was that yes, it did. In 2016, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education, under the Obama administration, published a "Dear Colleague" letter, stipulating the protections for transgender students under Title IX.v
The letter was rescinded by the Trump administration in early 2017 and, in 2018, the Health and Human Services Civil Rights Office spearheaded an effort to "establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX." The "explicit and uniform definition of gender" was to be determined "on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable." The proposed definition was to "define sex as either male or female, unchangeable, and determined by the genitals that a person is born with."
Many colleges and universities claim they would "continue to abide by the previous guidelines." If the Education Department decides to integrate the new definition into its regulations - expected to be released this fall - there is concern that "a transgender student would not have recourse to complain to the federal government about discrimination on the basis of gender identity." Up until now, "complaining to the U.S. Department of Education was an option for transgender students in states without those protections." However, "if the rules are changed...that's a lot less friendly of a place to go." In your opinion, how should colleges approach this issue of defining gender, if at all?