The Trump administration announced Wednesday that the California Department of Education must forbid schools from allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports, among other changes to the state’s transgender policies, within 10 days or “risk imminent enforcement action.”
The statement is the latest in a battle between the federal administration and some states over trans rights and the role of transgender women and girls in sports.
The U.S. Department of Education said that by allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports, the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation violate Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in education. A California law from 2013 allows transgender students to compete in sports aligned with their gender identity.
While former President Joe Biden issued rules protecting transgender students under Title IX in 2024, the Department of Education announced in January that it would return to 2020 Title IX rules under the first Trump administration, enforcing Title IX “on the basis of biological sex.”
“The California Department of Education believes all students should have the opportunity to learn and play at school, and we have consistently applied existing law in support of students’ rights to do so,” Liz Sanders, director of communications at the California Department of Education, said in a statement.
The California Interscholastic Federation told The Athletic in a statement that it does not comment on legal matters.
The latest announcement from the U.S. Department of Education said that California must also forbid schools from allowing transgender girls to enter “female intimate facilities.” Schools receiving federal funding must “adopt biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female’” and give awards and apology letters to athletes who lost awards to transgender athletes.
The Trump administration also stated that the California Interscholastic Federation and schools receiving public funds must submit an annual certification regarding Title IX compliance to the California Department of Education, and that the California Department of Education must propose a plan to monitor compliance with the Office of Civil Rights. The DOE said that if California does not comply, enforcement could include “referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for proceedings.”
Added Education Secretary Linda McMahon in the Board of Education statement: “The Trump Administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law. The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow.”
McMahon told Fox News on Wednesday that California could lose federal funding for schools if the state does not comply with the law. The Trump administration has made similar threats to Minnesota and Maine; Minnesota sued the Justice Department over the demands, while the federal government stopped those efforts against Maine as part of a settlement in May. Other efforts by Trump to withhold federal funds from states have been blocked by judges and continue to be litigated in the courts.
While the Trump administration began investigating the California Interscholastic Federation in February and the California Department of Education in April, the latest requirements come nearly a month after a California high school track meet drew national attention for the participation of AB Hernandez, who is transgender. Hernandez won two state titles, and the state organizers awarded titles to both Hernandez and the athletes who finished second.
For LGBTQ+ advocates, the Trump administration’s Title IX policy is part of a larger push to curtail transgender rights.
“The U.S. Department of Education’s ‘findings’ are a dangerous distortion of Title IX and a direct attack on transgender youth in California,” said Tony Hoang, executive director of the LGBTQ+ civil rights organization Equality California. “Let’s be clear: this isn’t about fairness in sports and never has been — it’s about a federal administration weaponizing civil rights laws to target transgender students and force California to comply with their hateful anti-transgender agenda.”
The statement from the Trump administration is a win for advocates against the participation of trans athletes in women’s and girls’ sports, who say that those athletes have an unfair biological advantage. Studies — of which there are few — show mixed results, depending on an athlete’s age and stage of transition.
“Today’s findings are a landmark victory for female athletes across California who have been forced to compete on an unequal playing field, one that undermines both their safety and hard-earned achievements,” wrote Sophia Lorey, spokesperson for the California Family Council, a Christian advocacy group that has been organizing against trans girls competing in girls’ sports.
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