Rockford Area Pride Committee Releases Statement on Title IX Rollbacks

For Immediate Release - Rockford, Illinois.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 provide that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” 2024 Regulations enacted by the Biden Administration added protections for LGBTQIA+ Americans so that victims were believed and perpetrators would no longer be protected. Under the regulations, in-person, court-like proceedings for cases of sexual assault were no longer required, and more cases of sexual violence would be subject to required intervention by higher education institutions. These regulations also made respecting individual pronouns a requirement.

The federal courts had struck down these amendments in 2025, which was yet another push in the wave of state and federal policies that rolled back previously established policies. The LGBTQIA+ Community, particularly transgender and intersex citizens, remains under attack, as the current administration has now entirely rolled back these protections. The sad reality is that nearly 1/3 of transgender people have been physically assaulted in a school or educational setting. Furthermore, transgender people with a high school education or less face an 87% assault risk, and transgender women are twelve times more likely to be killed than the general U.S. population.

The Rockford Area Pride Committee stands with other LGBTQIA+ Advocacy organizations in their denouncing of this gross injustice and continuation of the administration’s obsession with attacking transgender, intersex, and other LGBTQIA+ youth. The guise of “protecting women and girls” is merely an excuse to weaken laws that actually keep students safe. Through this latest action, the Department of Education has effectively abandoned its duty to protect people from sex discrimination in schools, and shows their commitment to protecting perpetrators of sexual violence while abandoning the future leaders of tomorrow.

In addition, the Committee joins in the Human Rights Campaign’s statement that “…in yet another display of contempt for the rule of law and democratic governance, the administration has denied the public any opportunity to comment on the dangers of returning to these prior rules ... In its typical Orwellian fashion, the administration claims that ‘engaging in public notice and comment would be contrary to public interest.’”

Luckily, our citizens do not face these trying times alone. The Committee would direct persons needing assistance or support to the following local organizations:

• Rockford Sexual Assault Counseling (For victims of sexual violence and harassment)

• The LIAM Foundation (For LGBTQIA+ Resources and Aid)

• Prairie State Legal Services (For legal questions)

Media inquiries should be directed to Andrew J. Mertzenich, Media Director. Info@RockfordAreaPride.org.