The U.S. Department of Education announced in a 701-page document its intent to change Title IX school regulations to "fully protect students from all forms of sex discrimination," Education Secretary Miguel A. Cardona said on Thursday.
"It is the Department of Education's responsibility to ensure all our students can learn, grow and thrive in school no matter where they live, who they are, whom they love, or how they identify," Cardona said.
The changes seek to "restore vital protections for students in our nation's schools which were eroded by controversial regulations implemented during the previous administration," according to a related document circulated by the Biden administration.
"Such protections would make more explicit schools' responsibilities to transgender students, settling ongoing debates about their right to use bathrooms marked for the gender they identify with; dress the way they prefer; be referred to by their preferred pronouns; and be protected from gender-based bullying," New York Times reports.
The proposal would also expand the definition of sexual discrimination or harassment to include "stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity."
"The Department plans to address by separate notice of proposed rulemaking the question of what criteria, if any, recipients should be permitted to use to establish students' eligibility to participate on a particular male or female athletics team," the document states.
The proposed changes will go through a "lengthy public comment period" before they are finalized and take effect, the NYT reports.
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