Is Utah allowed to ignore Bidens Title IX expansion protecting trans students? [Video]

When state and federal laws run up against each other, it’s common for the government authorities to battle it out in court. But does Utah have the power to ignore new federal Title IX directives, as the Legislature voted to do on Wednesday, before the state’s case challenging them has its day in court?

With the new rules’ Aug. 1 effective date approaching, the Beehive State may find out. And according to a legal analysis obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune earlier this year, the effort could run into constitutional roadblocks.

Title IX, which was passed in 1972, prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs that accept federal funding. The expanded rules from the U.S. Department of Education aim to clarify what steps schools must take to shield pregnant people from discrimination, and adds measures that extend anti-discrimination and anti-harassment provisions to gender identity and sexual orientation.

Legislators are making the move to disregard the rules under a bill …