This week we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. The law has ushered in a wave of equality in women’s sports since its passage in 1972, but that’s not the only reason it should be celebrated.

This month the U.S. Department of Education confirmed Title IX protects students from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Title IX amendment prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity offered by a recipient of federal financial assistance.

The U.S Department of Education said the Supreme Court decision of Bostock v. Clayton County “recognized that it is impossible to discriminate against a person based on their sexual orientation or gender identity without discriminating against that person based on sex.”

The use of this decision to defend students from discrimination with Title IX is major. According to StopBullying.gov, more U.S. high school students who self-identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual report having been bullied on school property and cyberbullied than their straight peers. The statistics used to calculate that were pulled from the 2019 Youth Risk Behaviour Survey.

Discrimination and bullying certainly are not the same thing. But, the numbers associated with bullying can display a trend of discrimination.

Despite these responses from students, “an average of 96.1 percent of schools across (43 states represented in the survey) prohibited harassment based on a student’s perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity,” according to the 2018 School Health Profiles.

It’s one thing to say you stand against harassment, discrimination, bullying, or the like, and it’s another thing to actually put in place practices to prevent these things.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey said, “These findings highlight the continued need for policies and practices within school environments that reduce victimization and bolster the mental health of LGB students.”

The advancement of Title IX protections during Pride Month and at the 50th anniversary of the law is of great importance. But it is not the end of the discussion. To truly provide protections against discrimination, there must be more than just procedure and policy to defend minority groups.

Each school or school system should have a designated compliance officer (which Limestone County Schools, Athens City Schools, and Athens State University have). Not only that, they should also have a transparent complaint process and generate regular reports identifying the number and nature of complaints, along with a detail of the outcomes of all cases.

We are still at the beginning.