The Trump administration has rolled back Biden-era rules for Title IX, which protects students from discrimination on the nation’s K-12 and college campuses.

On Jan. 31, the U.S. Department of Education sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education advising educators and administrators that the department’s Office for Civil Rights will enforce the Trump Administration’s 2020 Title IX Rule.

The letter comes on the heels of a Jan. 9 ruling in a federal district court in Kentucky, which ordered that the 2024 Title IX Regulations be vacated after the court found that the protected status of “sex” could not include “gender identity.”

“The Biden Administration’s failed attempt to rewrite Title IX was an unlawful abuse of regulatory power and an egregious slight to women and girls,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor, in a news release. “Under the Trump Administration, the Education Department will champion equal opportunity for all Americans, including women and girls, by protecting their right to safe and separate facilities and activities in schools, colleges and universities.”

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond called the move a “backward step” and affirmed that California schools will continue to follow state law that extends protections against discrimination to all students on the basis of gender, gender expression, gender identity and sexual orientation.

“In California, ‘all’ still means all,” said Thurmond, in a statement. “While the Trump Education Department announced that they will no longer protect all students from discrimination, California law is unaffected by recent changes to federal policy, and continues to provide safeguards against discrimination and harassment based on gender, gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation.”