A public school board in Southern California voted Tuesday night to pass a motion that bans male athletes from competing in girls’ sports.
The board of the Redlands Unified School District voted in favor of the policy by a 3–2 margin, becoming the third school district in California to take a public stance against transgender participation in women’s sports. The other two are the Chino Valley Unified School District and the Temecula Valley Unified School District.
The resolution under consideration by Redlands was similar to a state assembly bill that failed to make it out of a hearing committee earlier this month. California Democrats opposed the measure. The bill would have banned male athletes from competing on girls’ interscholastic sports teams.
In March, Temecula Valley’s school board unanimously adopted a resolution in support of that bill before the legislation was struck down.
Chino Valley’s school board approved a motion last Thursday to file Title IX complaints against California’s government, including Governor Gavin Newsom, over letting male athletes compete on sports teams that don’t correspond with their biological sex.
During that same board meeting, Chino Valley board members unanimously voted to send a letter to the Trump administration asking for federal support on the issue of transgender participation in women’s sports.
For over a decade, California has had a law on the books allowing men to compete with women in college and youth sports and permitting transgender-identifying students to use school restrooms that align with their gender identity. That law is now in conflict with the Trump administration’s Title IX policy, which does not cover protections for transgender students.
Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in education. The federal law does not apply to discrimination based on gender identity, a federal judge found in January before the second Trump administration assumed power.
It remains to be seen whether Newsom will fight Redlands’ new policy, as he did with a Chino Valley policy that required school staff to notify parents if their children changed their gender identity or pronouns last year. The policy contradicted a new state law that prohibited schools from requiring parental notification about a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression without the student’s consent.
In a March appearance on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Newsom defended this specific transgender-related law.
“I just disagree with that. I mean, the law was you would be fired, a teacher would be fired if a teacher did not report or snitch on a kid talking about their gender identity,” he explained. “I just think that was wrong. I think teachers should teach. I don’t think they should be required to turn in kids.”
“What is the job of a teacher? It’s to teach. If Johnny’s talking about some identity issue or some issue about liking someone of the same sex, is it the teacher’s job to then report that?” Newsom asked rhetorically. “In this law, the teacher can still do that. But they can’t be fired if that’s not what they do. I just think that was fair. I don’t think that’s inappropriate.”
In a conversation with Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, Newsom shockingly admitted that male participation in female sports is “deeply unfair” for women. The statement diverged from the Democratic Party’s ideological commitment to transgenderism, which moderate Democrats have cited as a major factor for the party’s election loss in November.
Facing a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Chino Valley revised its policy by eliminating any mention of gender identity or pronouns. It still requires notification for changes to students’ records, however. The school district’s policy continues to face legal challenges brought by the state.
Redlands has been targeted by the state in the past. Last year, the school district located in San Bernardino County entered into a stipulated judgment that subjects the district to five years of oversight by a court and the state attorney general for failing to address complaints and allegations of sexual abuse involving minors.