The Trump administration is using its anti-trans actions to try to dismantle civil rights for both trans and cis women alike and its taking an unusual route to do so.The Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking to rescind the section of Title IX that says schools must allow students to play on sports teams with the opposite sex if there is no team for their sex available (unless the sport is a contact sport). The rule has allowed girls to play on boys teams in schools that dont offer an equivalent girls team. Related Simone Biles tells off anti-trans scourge Riley Gaines: No one in sports is safe with you around! The GOAT has spoken. The DOE claims the policy ignore[s] differences between the sexes which are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality and says eliminating it aligns with Donald Trumps anti-trans executive order, Keeping Men Out of Womens Sports. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today The rescission of the rule would only apply to schools that receive funding from the DOE, which provides money to some schools for research and other programs, such as its Renew Americas School grant to assist with energy upgrades.Whats more, the administration is exploiting a loophole to try to rush the rule change through without the standard 60-day public comment period. The DOE is using a process called a direct final rule (DFR), which does not require the formal rulemaking process but is typically used for simple changes, such as form updates.The DFR process allowed the rule change to take effect on July 15 unless significant adverse comments had been submitted by June 16. Thousands of comments were submitted, though they are not visible to the public. Its not clear whether the rule will officially take effect. If the rule does change, it will not only affect trans athletes. Schools that receive DOE funding will no longer be required to allow cisgender girls to play on boys teams when a girls team does not exist. Shiwali Patel, senior director of safe and inclusive schools for the National Womens Law Center, told K-12 Dive the change is blatant sexism, and harmful to women and girls.The Trump administration is trying to gut long-standing Title IX protections that intend to provide women and girls with more opportunities to play sports, and without following the legally required rulemaking process, no less. Patel added that the administration clearly doesnt actually care about protecting women and girls, as it has used this claim to justify its crusade against trans rights, especially when it comes to trans student-athletes.Julia Martin, director of policy and government affairs at legal and consulting group The Bruman Group, explained that the administration was able to keep the proposed rule change under wraps for so long because no one would have expected it to come from the DOE, as the Department of Education typically handles these kinds of policies. The proposed change, in fact, was slipped into the middle of a list of 47 so-called burdensome and costly regulations outlined in a DOE press release in May announcing the departments plan for a major overhaul to puportedly save the American people an estimated $11 billion and cut more than 125,000 words fro the Code of Federal Regulations. Part of what I see happening is this sense of overwhelm, Kel OHara, senior attorney for policy and education equity at Equal Rights Advocates, told HuffPost. Theres so much happening that its hard to follow. [The Trump administration] is trying to put these things through back doors, which makes it hard for the people who normally keep an eye on these things to catch it.OHara said the administrations use of the DFR process is also worrisome for the future of other civil rights protections. The really concerning part from my perspective is that this could essentially provide a blueprint for dismantling civil rights protections across the board. A second proposed rule change also seeks to rescind similar Title IX protections for education programs. The administration is also using the DFR loophole to try to push this change through on the same timeline.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.