California Refuses Trump Admin’s Demand To Bar Trans Girls From School Sports
Despite federal threats and political pressure, California is holding firm on its commitment to protect trans youth in school athletics.
On July 7, the California Department of Education formally rejected an ultimatum from the U.S. Department of Education to ban transgender girls from competing in K-12 girls’ sports. The state refused to sign a proposed resolution agreement that would have required schools to adopt “biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female’” and rescind any prizes awarded to transgender athletes. The response was unflinching.
“The California Department of Education… respectfully disagrees with OCR’s analysis and it will not sign the proposed resolution agreement,” wrote General Counsel Len Garfinkel in a letter to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), referencing the department’s recent investigation.
The Trump administration’s June report concluded that California’s current policy violates Title IX, a federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education. Federal officials gave the state ten days to comply, warning that noncompliance would result in “imminent enforcement action,” though no specifics were outlined.
Related: Supreme Court Takes Up State Bans On Trans Student Athletes
California’s refusal makes it the second state after Maine to flat-out reject the Trump-era interpretation of Title IX. Since 2013, California law has allowed students to participate in sports and use facilities that align with their gender identity. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which oversees more than 1,500 high school athletic programs, has continued to uphold this policy even as pressure mounts from Washington.
In May, CIF adopted a workaround to address concerns about awards: cisgender girls who lose a qualifying position to a transgender competitor may still advance to championship rounds. However, the state’s stance on inclusion hasn’t changed, and that has drawn criticism from federal officials.
“California has just REJECTED our resolution agreement to follow federal law and keep men out of women’s sports,” U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon posted on X. “Turns out Gov. Newsom’s acknowledgment that ‘it’s an issue of fairness’ was empty political grandstanding. @CAgovernor, you’ll be hearing from @AGPamBondi.”
Related: UPenn Bans Trans Athletes And Erases Their Records In Deal With Trump Admin
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office dismissed the federal proposal as a “political document” with no legal weight, one that would force California to violate its own anti-discrimination laws.
“This administration is targeting California in an attempt to intimidate it into backing away from its strong anti-discrimination laws,” Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, told the Sacramento Bee. “I’m encouraged to see the California Department of Education is standing up to that.”
President Trump made trans inclusion in sports a centerpiece of his campaign rhetoric, threatening to cut federal education funding to states that defy his executive order on trans athletes and warning California could lose funding “maybe permanently.”
Still, the pushback hasn’t swayed California lawmakers. Previous efforts to ban trans athletes through state legislation have failed, including recent attempts from Republican Assemblymember Kate Sanchez and former legislator Bill Essayli, now a federal prosecutor.
Related: Trans Woman Forced To Compete Against Men Swims Topless In Protest
But the pressure isn’t just coming from the federal government. California Republicans have seized on the issue as well. “The governor himself has said that this is unfair, and yet the governor is putting politics over fairness,” Rep. Kevin Kiley said at the state Capitol. “I want to hear testimony on Capitol Hill from the California politicians who believe that they have the right to defy the civil rights laws of our country.”
So far, the courts have provided mixed signals. While 27 states have enacted laws banning trans athletes from participating in school sports aligned with their gender identity, several of those laws are on hold pending litigation. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear two high-profile cases—one from Idaho and another from West Virginia—that could reshape how Title IX is interpreted nationwide.
But for now, California is holding firm in its commitment to protect trans youth despite federal threats and mounting political pressure.
