The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against California on Wednesday after the federal government determined the state violated Title IX by allowing men to participate in women’s sports.
Formal charges come after a weeks-long Office of Civil Rights investigation found California’s high school sports body, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), and the California Department of Education (CDE) in violation of Title IX. Federal authorities launched the investigation in May after learning that a male was allowed to compete in, and go on to win, multiple events at the state’s track-and-field championship meet.
“Title IX was enacted over half a century ago to protect women and girls from discrimination. The Justice Department will not stand for policies that deprive girls of their hard-earned athletic trophies and ignore their safety on the field and in private spaces,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said. “Young women should not have to sacrifice their rights to compete for scholarships, opportunities, and awards on the altar of woke gender ideology.”
Both the CIF and CDE rejected a resolution agreement from the Department of Education this week that would have banned men from women’s sports and intimate spaces. CDE “respectfully disagreed” with OCR’s analysis, and did not sign the proposed resolution, which also would have required California schools to acknowledge biology-based definitions of “male” and “female.”
California’s progressive and so-called inclusive policies “eviscerate equal athletic opportunities for girls . . . they also require girls to share intimate spaces, such as locker rooms, with boys, causing a hostile educational environment that denies girls educational opportunities,” the DOJ’s suit said.
State authorities have not yet responded to the lawsuit.
California’s transgender policy is the latest to come under scrutiny by the Trump administration. After signing an executive order early on in his term that banned men from women’s private spaces and sports, President Donald Trump’s education and justice departments have opened investigations into public school districts, universities, and state athletic associations nationwide.
“Women fought hard for these rights,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Wednesday. “And it is the law. The president means business.”
The administration scored a win last week when it reached an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania to settle a fraught Title IX investigation. University officials agreed to ban male athletes from women’s sports after a male swimmer, Lia Thomas, won a Division I women’s title in 2022. Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer with whom Thomas tied for fifth place in the 200 Freestyle finals at the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, has been an outspoken advocate for fairness in women’s sports.
“Let this be a notice – California, Minnesota and the likes thereof – if you do not comply with federal law, you do not get to reap the benefits of complying with federal law,” said Gaines, who has collaborated with the Trump administration to expose unfairness in sports. “Of course, one of those benefits being receiving federal funds. Women are protected and recognized under federal law – again, that law being Title IX.”
“The U.S. government, including the Department of Justice, including the Department of Education, will not stand by and ignore when the federally protected rights of women and girls are being violated,” she added.