WASHINGTON — California discriminated against women and girls by letting biological men compete on their sports teams and enter their bathrooms and locker rooms, a Trump administration civil rights probe concluded Wednesday.

The US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights determined that California’s Education Department and Interscholastic Federation, which has received state funding, were in “clear violation of Title IX” for having “actively prevented this equality of opportunity by allowing males in girls’ sports and intimate spaces.”

The civil rights office has given the Golden State 10 days to reverse course — or face “imminent enforcement action” that could include a referral to the Department of Justice.

5 The US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights determined that California’s Education Department and Interscholastic Federation were in “clear violation of Title IX.” Getty Images

“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,” US Education Secretary 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.”

The 1972 law is meant to protect equal opportunities regardless of sex in schools receiving federal funds.

Most Americans — and as many as 69% of Democrats — support sex-segregated sports participation, a New York Times poll found in January.

Several Western nations, including the UK, have also banned or severely limited the practice of hormone therapy and providing puberty-blocking drugs to children, citing physical and psychological harms and the need for further study of long-term effects.

5 California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on his podcast in March that it was “deeply unfair” to allow men to compete in women’s sports. JOHN G MABANGLO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Past research studies show that transgender female athletes maintain a competitive advantage over their biological female peers even after undergoing hormone therapy to transition genders.

“It wouldn’t be a day ending in ‘Y’ without the Trump Administration threatening to defund California. Now Secretary McMahon is confusing government with her WrestleMania days — dramatic, fake, and completely divorced from reality,” said a spokesperson for Newsom. “This won’t stick.”

The Trump Education Department’s warning for California also comes after the US Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law prohibiting hormone therapy for minors.

5 Trump’s Education Department’s word of warning for California also comes after the US Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law prohibiting hormone therapy for minors. Image of Sports/Newscom via ZUMA

To reverse course, the California educational entities must inform any recipients of federal funding to “adopt biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female,’” according to Trump’s Education Department.

California’s Interscholastic Federation must also “restore to female athletes all individual records, titles, and awards misappropriated by male athletes competing in female competitions” — including Katie McGuinness, who placed second against a trans athlete in the long jump at the federation’s Southern Section Final last month.

California’s Education Department must in addition “send a personalized letter apologizing on behalf of the state of California for allowing her educational experience to be marred by sex discrimination.”

5 The US Education Department launched the investigation into California’s interscholastic sports federation on Feb. 12 after the organization said it was going to flout the president’s executive order. Getty Images

And the state office will have to annually certify that any recipients of federal funds are in compliance with Title IX.

In California, there are nearly 6 million K-12 athletes but fewer than 10 are transgender, a state official noted. Just around 10 are transgender of the more than 500,000 NCAA student-athletes nationally.

The Education Department launched the investigation into the state’s interscholastic sports federation on Feb. 12 after the organization said it was going to flout the president’s executive order preventing transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports.

5 Katie McGuinness placed second against a trans athlete in the long jump at the California state federation’s Southern Section Final last month. FOX News

The department has dubbed June “Title IX Month” and is “commemorating women’s continued push for equal educational and athletic opportunity.”

Reps for California’s Education Department and Interscholastic Federation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Department of Education (ED) announced on Wednesday it has found California in violation of Title IX for allowing men to compete in women’s sports.

The department opened an investigation into the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) in April and February, respectively. California state law allows men to compete in women’s sports and use women’s facilities, and CIF has openly announced its intention to continue abiding by state law despite ED’s warning.

“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,” 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.”

ED is demanding CDE and CIF comply with federal law and restore any female records that were taken by men competing against them or risk a referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

CDE and CIF did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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Adam Echelman

CalMatters

California’s schools and colleges receive billions in federal funding each year — money that President Donald Trump is threatening to terminate over the actions of one student. AB Hernandez, a junior from Jurupa Valley High School, is transgender, and on May 31 she won first- and second-place medals at the state track and field championship.

“A Biological Male competed in California Girls State Finals, WINNING BIG, despite the fact that they were warned by me not to do so,” Trump said in a social media post last week. “As Governor Gavin Newscum (sic) fully understands, large scale fines will be imposed!!!”

Despite this post and a similar threat a few days earlier to withhold “large-scale” federal funding from California, Trump lacks the authority to change the state’s policy toward transgender athletes without an act of Congress or a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. And recent court cases suggest that Trump also may have a hard time withholding money from California.

California state law explicitly allows transgender students in its K-12 school districts to compete on the team that matches their preferred gender, but the Trump administration has issued multiple directives that restrict access to girls’ sports, including a letter last week from the U.S. Department of Justice telling high schools to change their policies.

On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Justice Department over its letter, saying it had “no right to make such a demand.”

“Let’s be clear: sending a letter does not change the law,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond in a statement to school districts. “The DOJ’s letter to school districts does not announce any new federal law, and state law on this issue has remained unchanged since 2013.” On Monday, Thurmond sent his own letter to the Trump administration, refuting its legal argument.

California receives over $2 billion each year for its low-income Title I schools, as well as over $1 billion for special education. At the college level, students receive billions in federal financial aid and federal loans. Even if Trump lacks the legal authority to change state law, he could still try to withhold funding from California, just like he tried with Maine. In February, Trump asked Maine Gov. Janet Mills if her state was going to comply with a presidential executive order — which is not a law — that directed schools to bar transgender girls from certain sports. Mills said she’d comply with “state and federal laws,” effectively rebuking the president.

The Trump administration has since tried to withhold funding from Maine, but legal challenges have prevented it.

The NCAA vs. California state law

Trump made banning transgender youth athletes a centerpiece of his 2024 presidential campaign, and it’s remained a focal point for his administration this year. Nationally, Americans increasingly support restrictions on transgender athletes, according to surveys from the Pew Research Center. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last year signed legislation supporting trans students, spoke out against transgender athletes in a podcast this March, saying it was “deeply unfair” to allow transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports.

Female athletes with higher levels of testosterone or with masculine characteristics have long faced scrutiny, biological testing and disqualification. Debates about who gets to participate in girls’ or women’s sports predate the Trump administration — and Newsom — and policies vary depending on the athletic institution.

In 2004, the International Olympic Committee officially allowed transgender athletes to compete in the sport that aligned with their gender identity, as long as the athlete had sex reassignment surgery, only to change that policy in 2015 and require hormone testing. In 2021, the committee changed the policy again, creating more inclusive guidelines but giving local athletic federations the power to create their own eligibility criteria.

Across California, youth leagues, private sports leagues and other independent athletic associations all have their own policies. Some allow transgender women and men to participate; some restrict who can compete. Some require “confirmation” of a participant’s gender, such as a government ID or statements from health care professionals, while other associations take the athletes at their word.

California’s colleges and universities are not allowed to discriminate against transgender students but state law doesn’t provide any guidance beyond that. After the presidential executive order in February, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which independently regulates college sports, changed its rules, prohibiting transgender women from competing and putting colleges in a bind. Roughly 60 California universities are part of the NCAA, including almost all of the UC and many Cal State campuses. Community colleges, which represent the bulk of the state’s undergraduates, are not part of the NCAA.

“There’s a strong argument (the NCAA rules) could violate state law and federal equal protection,” said Elana Redfield, the federal policy director at UCLA’s Williams Institute, which studies LGBTQ+ issues.

Amy Bentley-Smith, a spokesperson for the California State University system, declined to comment about how the NCAA policy conflicts with state and federal regulations. She said the Cal State campuses abide by the NCAA rules — preventing transgender athletes from competing — while still following state and federal non-discrimination laws regarding trans students.

Stett Holbrook, a spokesperson for the University of California system, said the UC does not have a system-wide policy for transgender athletes. He did not respond to questions about whether the campuses abide by NCAA rules.

Unlike the NCAA, the California Community College Athletic Association allows transgender athletes to compete. A spokesperson for the association, Mike Robles, said he’s aware of the NCAA rules and the Trump administration’s priorities but he did not say whether the association will modify its own policy.

The U.S. Constitution is silent on trans students

In February, just days after the president’s inauguration and the executive order regarding transgender athletes, the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into San Jose State after a women’s volleyball player outed her teammate as transgender. The education department has yet to provide an update on that investigation.

With the Trump administration’s focus now on CA K-12 school districts, the legal debate has intensified. In its letter to the state’s public schools last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports is “in violation” of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and asked schools to change their policies.

But the U.S. Constitution doesn’t say anything about transgender athletes, at least not explicitly.

Instead, Dhillon is offering an interpretation of the Constitution, “which doesn’t carry the full force of law,” Redfield said. The laws that do govern transgender athletes, such Title IX, aren’t clear about what schools should do, and the U.S. Supreme Court — the entity with the power to interpret federal law and the Constitution — has yet to decide on the matter.

That said, many lower level judges have already weighed in on whether the Constitution or Title IX law protects transgender students or athletes. “The are in favor of trans plaintiffs,” Redfield said. “The federal government is contradicting some pretty strong important precedent when they’re making these statements.”

After Trump’s comments about AB Hernandez, the nonprofit entity that regulates high school sports, the California Interscholastic Federation, changed its policy, slightly. For the state’s track and field championship, the federation said it would implement a new process, whereby AB Hernandez would share her award with any “biological female” that she beat. All “biological female” athletes below Hernandez would also move up in ranking.

On May 31, Hernandez shared the first-place podium twice and the second-place podium once, each time with her competitors smiling supportively, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

A spokesperson for the governor, Izzy Gardon, said that approach is a “reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness.”

California is suing the Trump administration over its demand that the state change its transgender-inclusive school sports policy.

The administration, through the U.S. Department of Justice, sent a letter to California officials last week asking them to certify that they do not let trans athletes in K-12 schools compete according to their gender identity. However, the state has let trans students do so for years and has no intention of changing the policy, says California Attorney General Rob Bonta. This week, the California Department of Education notified the DOJ that it will make no such certification. Doing that would violate state antidiscrimination law and the U.S. Constitution, says a press release from Bonta’s office.

Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday that he calls “pre-enforcement,” aimed at preventing retaliatory actions by the Trump administration, such as withholding or conditioning federal education funding, which amounts to billions of dollars a year. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

“The president and his administration are demanding that California school districts break the law and violate the Constitution — or face legal retaliation,” Bonta said in the press release. “They’re demanding that our schools discriminate against the students in their care and deny their constitutionally protected rights. As we’ve proven time and again in court, just because the president disagrees with a law, that doesn’t make it any less of one. As California’s chief legal officer, I’ll always fight to uphold and defend the laws of our state, especially those that protect and ensure the civil rights of the most vulnerable among us.”

Discrimination based on gender identity or expression has been illegal in California since 2012. In 2013, the legislature made clear that the law includes school sports. Also, the California Interscholastic Federation, the statewide governing body for school athletics, allows all students to participate in accordance with their gender identity.

In a June 2 letter to California school districts, the DOJ contended that the trans-inclusive sports policy violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. It referred to trans girls as “male.” This is in keeping with an executive order Donald Trump issued in February that threatens federal funding for states that allow trans students to compete in sports under their gender identity.

However, Bonta says the opposite is true — reversing the policy would violate the Equal Protection Clause, according to precedent from federal courts in the Ninth Circuit, which includes California. “Furthermore, allowing athletic participation consistent with students’ gender identity is squarely within the State’s authority to ensure all students are afforded the benefits of an inclusive school environment, including participation in school sports, and to prevent the serious harms that transgender students would suffer from a discriminatory, exclusionary policy,” his press release says.

The Trump administration’s action apparently is based on the presence of just one trans female athlete, AB Hernandez, a junior from Jurupa Valley High School. She won first- and second-place medals at the California track and field championships May 31. Before the championships, Trump had threatened the state if it allowed her to compete, although he did not mention her by name.

The California Interscholastic Federation did change a rule prior to the championships. Now cisgender girls who narrowly missed qualifying — allegedly due to the inclusion of a trans competitor — will be offered a chance to compete. A spokesman for Gov. Gavin Newsom said the change was made before Trump’s threat.

Newsom came under fire for agreeing with far-right activist Charlie Kirk in March that trans inclusion in girls’ sports is “deeply unfair.” In April, Newsom said at a press conference that the issue of trans athletes had been “weaponized by the right to be 10x, 100x bigger than it is,” while also voicing openness to conversations about finding the “right balance” conducted with “dignity” and “humanity.”

Executive order or no, Trump does not have unilateral authority to change California’s — or any state’s — policy on trans athletes. To do so would take “an act of Congress or a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court,”CalMattersnotes. “And recent court cases suggest that Trump also may have a hard time withholding money from California.” For instance, legal actions have prevented the administration from withholding funds from Maine. A fight between Trump and the state’s governor, Janet Mills, over trans athlete inclusion arose when she visited the White House in February, and she vowed to see him in court.

Hernandez seems to be unfazed by all the fuss, and she’s received support from her teammates and competitors. “They try to use intimidation tactics to push people to quit, but I’m not scared of them. They bark, but we bite,” she recently told The Guardian.“I don’t think they realized who they messed with. People say, ‘Ooh, they messed with the wrong kid.’ But at the same time, they messed with the right one. Because I’m not keeping my mouth shut.”

In summary Trump is threatening to withhold funding from California over its policy toward transgender student athletes, but actually doing so could prove tricky for the president.

California’s schools and colleges receive billions in federal funding each year — money that President Donald Trump is threatening to terminate over the actions of one student. AB Hernandez, a junior from Jurupa Valley High School, is transgender, and on May 31 she won first- and second-place medals at the state track and field championship.

“A Biological Male competed in California Girls State Finals, WINNING BIG, despite the fact that they were warned by me not to do so,” Trump said in a social media post last week. “As Governor Gavin Newscum (sic) fully understands, large scale fines will be imposed!!!”

Despite this post and a similar threat a few days earlier to withhold “large-scale” federal funding from California, Trump lacks the authority to change the state’s policy toward transgender athletes without an act of Congress or a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. And recent court cases suggest that Trump also may have a hard time withholding money from California.

California state law explicitly allows transgender students in its K-12 school districts to compete on the team that matches their preferred gender, but the Trump administration has issued multiple directives that restrict access to girls’ sports, including a letter last week from the U.S. Department of Justice telling high schools to change their policies.

On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the Justice Department over its letter, saying it had “no right to make such a demand.”

“Let’s be clear: sending a letter does not change the law,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond in a statement to school districts. “The DOJ’s letter to school districts does not announce any new federal law, and state law on this issue has remained unchanged since 2013.” On Monday, Thurmond sent his own letter to the Trump administration, refuting its legal argument.

California receives over $2 billion each year for its low-income Title I schools, as well as over $1 billion for special education. At the college level, students receive billions in federal financial aid and federal loans. Even if Trump lacks the legal authority to change state law, he could still try to withhold funding from California, just like he tried with Maine. In February, Trump asked Maine Gov. Janet Mills if her state was going to comply with a presidential executive order — which is not a law — that directed schools to bar transgender girls from certain sports. Mills said she’d comply with “state and federal laws,” effectively rebuking the president.

The Trump administration has since tried to withhold funding from Maine, but legal challenges have prevented it.

The NCAA vs. California state law

Trump made banning transgender youth athletes a centerpiece of his 2024 presidential campaign, and it’s remained a focal point for his administration this year. Nationally, Americans increasingly support restrictions on transgender athletes, according to surveys from the Pew Research Center. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last year signed legislation supporting trans students, spoke out against transgender athletes in a podcast this March, saying it was “deeply unfair” to allow transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports.

Female athletes with higher levels of testosterone or with masculine characteristics have long faced scrutiny, biological testing and disqualification. Debates about who gets to participate in girls’ or women’s sports predate the Trump administration — and Newsom — and policies vary depending on the athletic institution.

In 2004, the International Olympic Committee officially allowed transgender athletes to compete in the sport that aligned with their gender identity, as long as the athlete had sex reassignment surgery, only to change that policy in 2015 and require hormone testing. In 2021, the committee changed the policy again, creating more inclusive guidelines but giving local athletic federations the power to create their own eligibility criteria.

Across California, youth leagues, private sports leagues and other independent athletic associations all have their own policies. Some allow transgender women and men to participate; some restrict who can compete. Some require “confirmation” of a participant’s gender, such as a government ID or statements from health care professionals, while other associations take the athletes at their word.

California’s colleges and universities are not allowed to discriminate against transgender students but state law doesn’t provide any guidance beyond that. After the presidential executive order in February, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which independently regulates college sports, changed its rules, prohibiting transgender women from competing and putting colleges in a bind. Roughly 60 California universities are part of the NCAA, including almost all of the UC and many Cal State campuses. Community colleges, which represent the bulk of the state’s undergraduates, are not part of the NCAA.

“There’s a strong argument (the NCAA rules) could violate state law and federal equal protection,” said Elana Redfield, the federal policy director at UCLA’s Williams Institute, which studies LGBTQ+ issues.

Amy Bentley-Smith, a spokesperson for the California State University system, declined to comment about how the NCAA policy conflicts with state and federal regulations. She said the Cal State campuses abide by the NCAA rules — preventing transgender athletes from competing — while still following state and federal non-discrimination laws regarding trans students.

Stett Holbrook, a spokesperson for the University of California system, said the UC does not have a system-wide policy for transgender athletes. He did not respond to questions about whether the campuses abide by NCAA rules.

Unlike the NCAA, the California Community College Athletic Association allows transgender athletes to compete. A spokesperson for the association, Mike Robles, said he’s aware of the NCAA rules and the Trump administration’s priorities but he did not say whether the association will modify its own policy.

The U.S. Constitution is silent on trans students

In February, just days after the president’s inauguration and the executive order regarding transgender athletes, the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into San Jose State after a women’s volleyball player outed her teammate as transgender. The education department has yet to provide an update on that investigation.

With the Trump administration’s focus now on CA K-12 school districts, the legal debate has intensified. In its letter to the state’s public schools last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports is “in violation” of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and asked schools to change their policies.

But the U.S. Constitution doesn’t say anything about transgender athletes, at least not explicitly.

Instead, Dhillon is offering an interpretation of the Constitution, “which doesn’t carry the full force of law,” Redfield said. The laws that do govern transgender athletes, such Title IX, aren’t clear about what schools should do, and the U.S. Supreme Court — the entity with the power to interpret federal law and the Constitution — has yet to decide on the matter.

That said, many lower level judges have already weighed in on whether the Constitution or Title IX law protects transgender students or athletes.“The preponderance of cases are in favor of trans plaintiffs,” Redfield said. “The federal government is contradicting some pretty strong important precedent when they’re making these statements.”

After Trump’s comments about AB Hernandez, the nonprofit entity that regulates high school sports, the California Interscholastic Federation, changed its policy, slightly. For the state’s track and field championship, the federation said it would implement a new process, whereby AB Hernandez would share her award with any “biological female” that she beat. All “biological female” athletes below Hernandez would also move up in ranking.

On May 31, Hernandez shared the first-place podium twice and the second-place podium once, each time with her competitors smiling supportively, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

A spokesperson for the governor, Izzy Gardon, said that approach is a “reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness.”