The move comes amid a wave of conservative measures aimed at restricting LGBTQ rights, which has alarmed liberal activists as the debate over transgender rights heats up.
The two directives, which would apply to federally funded educational institutions and most employers, would have expanded protections for transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms in schools and at work, as well as join sports teams that correspond to their gender identity.
The states involved have claimed that the directives would have put them at risk of losing significant federal funding due to existing laws.
"Defendants' guidance directly interferes with and threatens Plaintiff States' ability to continue enforcing their state laws," Eastern District of Tennessee U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley Jr. wrote in his ruling.
"The issuance of Defendants' guidance hampered their sovereign power to enforce their own legal code, and they face substantial pressure to change their state laws as a result," he added.
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia are the states represented by the attorneys general. Except for Alaska, where an interparty coalition controls the House of Representatives, all of those states have Republican legislatures.
The administration's guidance, issued by the Education Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), came in response to a Supreme Court ruling in 2020 that stated that a civil rights provision known as Title VII, which prohibits job discrimination based on gender, among other things, includes discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The White House and the EEOC did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Washington Post.
"We are disappointed in this decision," the Education Department said in a statement Monday, "but we remain committed to protecting students and school communities from discrimination and will continue to do so to deliver on the promise of Title IX."
According to the Education Department's June 2021 guidance, such discrimination would be considered a violation of Title IX, a 1972 federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education, and could result in sanctions for schools, colleges, and universities. That month, the EEOC issued its own guidance outlining what constitutes workplace discrimination against LGBTQ people and how members of the public can file a complaint.
On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the administration proposed broad changes to the law last month, including prohibiting educational institutions from discriminating against transgender students and revising guidance on how institutions handle claims of sexual assault and harassment. The Education Department must finalize this rule before enforcing these safeguards, and the comment period is open until September.
The injunction will remain in effect "pending the final resolution of this matter," or until further orders are issued by the district court or higher courts, according to Atchley.
According to the attorneys general who filed the lawsuit, the Biden administration exercised authority that "properly belongs to Congress, the States, and the people" by extending federal protections for LGBTQ students.
"Defendants would be allowed to use 'fear of future sanctions' to force 'immediate compliance' with the challenged guidance," Atchley wrote, which he claimed would cause "significant hardship" to the states in question.
He agreed with the state attorneys general that the Education Department attempted to enforce its guidance in a West Virginia lawsuit by filing a statement of interest claiming Title IX prohibits the state from prohibiting transgender girls from participating in girls' athletics.
According to a CNN analysis of ACLU data, 2022 will be a record-breaking year for laws targeting LGBTQ Americans. According to CNN, at least 162 bills targeting LGTBQ people have been introduced across 35 states as of July 1st, more than doubling the number considered in 2020 and exceeding the 151 bills considered in all of 2021. The majority of these bills are directed at transgender and nonbinary people, addressing issues such as bathroom use, athletic participation, school curriculums, and identification documents.
More laws restricting transgender students' participation in athletic endeavors went into effect earlier this month in Indiana, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah. In July, an Alabama law limiting LGBTQ-related discussions in schools and prohibiting transgender students from using bathrooms and other facilities that correspond to their gender identity went into effect.
The lawmakers who introduced these bills claim that they are intended to protect children, promote fairness in sports and other areas, and, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has stated, to combat "woke gender ideology."
Liberal activists have slammed the legislation, claiming that it seeks to erase LGBTQ people and communities from America's cultural narrative. They claim that, in the midst of a nationwide mental health crisis in schools, the problem is especially acute, increasing the risk of social isolation, depression, and suicide among LGBTQ students.