Trump Admin Threatens California Over Trans Athlete Policy
State has 10 days to ban transgender athletes from girls’ teams or risk losing federal education funding, under a Title IX ultimatum from the Education Department.
The Trump administration has issued an ultimatum to the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation, demanding they ban transgender athletes from competing on girls’ sports teams.
In a June 25 announcement, the U.S. Department of Education said California’s policy allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams violates Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational institutions.
The department also proposed a resolution requiring California to bar transgender athletes from girls’ sports teams and revoke any records, titles, or awards they’ve received. It further calls on the state to send personalized apology letters to female athletes who were denied honors or recognition after being displaced by a transgender competitor.
The resolution also demands that all California schools and the Interscholastic Federation submit annual certifications showing compliance with the Education Department’s interpretation of Title IX, which limits sex-based discrimination to disadvantages based on assigned sex at birth. The state would also be required to notify schools that allowing transgender athletes to compete on girls’ teams violates federal law.
California has 10 days to comply or risk losing all federal education funding. The U.S. Department of Justice could also pursue legal action against the state’s education department.
“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,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon 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,” McMahon added. “The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow.”
California tested a pilot policy at its state track meet in May, allowing one additional cisgender competitor in each event where a transgender athlete was competing. Under the policy, transgender athletes kept their placements, but any cisgender athlete who finished behind them was not considered “displaced” and received the placement and awards they would have earned otherwise.
At this year’s state meet, junior AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High School “tied” with the next cisgender finisher for first place in the girls’ high jump and triple jump, and for second in the long jump. All cisgender athletes who would have placed in the top nine if Hernandez had not competed were still awarded their respective medals.
President Donald Trump balked at Hernandez’s participation, threatening to pull all federal education funding from California if she was allowed to compete. The U.S. Department of Justice said it intends to investigate both the Jurupa Unified School District and the state to determine whether the pilot policy also violates Title IX.
The Department of Education launched its initial investigation into the California Interscholastic Federation in February, after the organization said it would follow state law allowing transgender athletes to compete based on gender identity, rather than comply with a Trump executive order urging school districts to enact their own bans.
The department subsequently opened a separate investigation into the California Department of Education over the same issue, with both investigations reaching the same conclusion: that California’s sports policy violates Title IX.
The Education Department previously launched a similar investigation in Maine, where state officials, including Gov. Janet Mills, declined to support a transgender athlete ban. After rejecting the proposed resolution in April, the state was sued by the Justice Department, which sought to revoke its federal education funding. The Trump administration later backed down — at least for now — restoring school meal funds after a federal judge blocked the attempt.
An unknown vandal smashed the plexiglass sign outside Washington Plaza Baptist Church in Reston, Virginia, sometime before Sunday, June 15, targeting a message that read "God is Love. Love is Love. Celebrate Pride."
A member of the congregation was the first to notice the shattered singn and missing letters.
"Whatever was used to break the plexiglass on the sign was right over the word pride," Michelle Nickens, pastor of Washington Plaza Baptist Church, told the Reston edition of local news site Patch. "They actually damaged it so that the little track that the letters slid into was damaged. We could not even put the letters back up."
Police in Bogor, Indonesia, say they arrested 75 people for attending what they called a "gay party" at a villa in the Puncak area on June 22.
According to Amnesty International, 74 of those arrested were men and one was a woman.
Teguh Kumura, head of the Bogor Police's Criminal Investigation Unit, told the Jakarta Globe that a joint task force of Bogor and Megamendung police raided the villa after receiving public reports of “suspicious activity” at the gathering.
A transgender athlete in California won two golds and a silver medal at the CIF State Track & Field Championships last weekend, but officially "tied" with other athletes due to a specialized scoring system instituted just ahead of the state meet.
AB Hernandez, a transgender girl who is a junior at Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside, California, placed first in the girls' high jump and triple jump competitions, and second in the girls' long jump competition.
Hernandez's participation sparked controversy and staunch opposition from some parents and bystanders, especially after President Donald Trump threatened to permanently withhold federal money from California if transgender athletes -- specifically Hernandez, although he did not refer to her by name -- were allowed to compete in female events.
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