The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation violated the civil rights of female students on the basis of sex by allowing transgender students to compete in school sports according to their gender identity.
Having concluded its investigation, the U.S. Department of Education is calling on California to “voluntarily agree” to change what it determined are “unlawful practices” within 10 days or risk “imminent enforcement action.”
“Although Governor Gavin Newsom admitted months ago it was ‘deeply unfair’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation continued as recently as a few weeks ago to allow men to steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a 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.”
California officials were not immediately available for comment.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation in February into the California Interscholastic Federation, which oversees sports at more than 1,500 high schools, after the athletic group said it would continue its policy of allowing transgender students to compete in accordance with their gender identity.
California’s education code states that students “shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”
In May, the U.S. Department of Justice began an investigation into whether California, its interscholastic sports federation, and the Jurupa Unified School District were violating the civil rights of female students by allowing transgender students to compete in school sports.
President Donald Trump, who made the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports a key issue of his 2024 election campaign, also threatened last month to cut federal funding to California if the state continued to allow transgender athletes to compete.
Railing against Newsom on Truth Social, Trump complained the state “continues to ILLEGALLY allow MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.”
“I will speak to him today to find out which way he wants to go???” Trump said of Newsom. “In the meantime I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation!!!”
The Department of Justice continued to ramp up the pressure on schools, warning school districts in early June that they faced legal trouble if they did not bar such athletes from competition.
The next day, however, California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond sent out a letter, saying that the federal warning carried no legal weight. School districts, he said, were still obligated to comply with state law allowing transgender youth to compete.
