State Vows to Keep Current Transgender Athlete Policies Despite Federal Pressure
California is setting the stage for a dramatic showdown with the Trump administration, flat-out rejecting demands to exclude transgender women from women’s sports and private spaces.
On Monday, the California Department of Education (CDE) formally told the U.S. Department of Education (ED) that it “respectfully disagrees” with federal findings of civil rights violations, signaling a defiant stance that could have major financial implications.
The U.S. Department of Education had previously found California in breach of federal civil rights laws in June, citing the state’s policies allowing “men to compete in women’s sports and access women’s spaces, such as locker rooms and restrooms.”
READ: California Gov. Newsom’s Office Attempts Smackdown, But Body Slams Its Own Message
Education Secretary Linda McMahon took to X to announce California’s refusal to sign the proposed resolution agreement, revealing the Golden State’s firm “no.” The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the state’s governing body for high school sports, quickly “concurred” with CDE’s response, doubling down on the state’s position.
“California has just REJECTED our resolution agreement to follow federal law and keep men out of women’s sports,” McMahon wrote, directly calling out Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom. McMahon accused Newsom’s earlier acknowledgment that “it’s an issue of fairness” as “empty political grandstanding,” and warned that the state would be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The proposed resolution from ED had been explicit: stop allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports and use their spaces, restore any female records overwritten by transgender athletes, and issue apologies to the women negatively impacted. However, California’s education code continues to permit athletes to compete based on “his or her gender identity,” a point of contention that now pits state law against federal interpretation of Title IX.
READ: Gas Crisis Looms Over California As Dems Continue To Impose Crippling Regs
This ongoing saga has drawn fire from some Republicans in Congress, with North Carolina Rep. Mark Harris, a member of the House Education Committee, calling for California to lose its federal funding. “If California wants to purposely endanger female athletes, then it shouldn’t get federal funding,” Harris stated on X.
Despite his prior admission in March that men competing against women in sports was “deeply unfair,” Governor Newsom has remained publicly committed to California’s inclusive policies. As the CDE and CIF remain tight-lipped, declining to comment to the Daily Caller News Foundation, all eyes are now on the federal government to see how they will respond to California’s bold rejection.
The stage is set for a high-stakes legal and political battle over the future of women’s sports and transgender rights.
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