Trump admin sues California over girls’ sports policy, cites ‘deeply unfair’ rules
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed the lawsuit in an effort to stop state policies that allow athletes to compete 'consistent with their gender identity' rather than biological sex.
Campus Reform spoke to former collegiate swimmers and women's sports activists Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan about the lawsuit.
The Trump administration is suing the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) for allegedly violating Title IX by allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports.
The lawsuit aims to stop California state policies, maintained by the CDE and CIF, that allow athletes to compete “consistent with their gender identity” rather than biological sex.
The federal complaint describes California’s current policies as discriminatory, stating that they “eviscerate[s] equal athletic opportunities for girls” and forces them “to share intimate spaces, such as locker rooms, with boys, causing a hostile educational environment that denies girls educational opportunities.”
Officials say the policies have cost female athletes podium finishes, awards and scholarship opportunities.
”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 Dhillon stated in a press release.
”Young women should not have to sacrifice their rights to compete for scholarships, opportunities, and awards on the altar of woke gender ideology,” Dhillon concluded.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the administration announced July 9.
[RELATED: California defies federal order to bar males from girls’ sports]
Former collegiate swimmers and women’s sports activists Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan expressed their support for the lawsuit in an interview with Campus Reform.
”California is blatantly and defiantly ignoring federal law, and I’m thrilled to have leadership that is transparent,” said Riley Gaines, former University of Kentucky swimmer who tied with male swimmer Lia Thomas in 2022.
”I’m grateful for the Trump administration’s leadership on this, and I’m excited to continue to watch what they do in continuing to crack down on this issue,” said Paula Scanlan, former University of Pennsylvania swimmer and teammate of Lia Thomas.
”The young girls in California deserve to be protected,” Scanlan continued. “I say pull [California’s] federal funding until they comply.”
In June, a male athlete won multiple girls’ track and field events in California, prompting calls for federal intervention.
The Department of Education found California in violation of Title IX, Campus Reform reported. The department offered a resolution agreement, but the CDE and CIF declined to sign it by the July 7 deadline.
Governor Gavin Newsom addressed the controversy at a July 8 event in South Carolina, stating: “My position is that I don’t think it’s fair, but I also think it’s demeaning to talk down to people, and to belittle the trans community…These people just want to survive.”
The federal lawsuit cites Newsom’s own comments as evidence of unfairness, quoting his use of the phrase “deeply unfair.”
”That was something he said, of course, to win political points,” Gaines said. “Newsom continues to sit on the fence and wink at both sides.”
Gaines said Newsom’s political agenda has tangible consequences and expressed concern that California students may suffer due to the state’s refusal to comply with federal law.
”Truthfully, I hate that it comes down to this. Think of the things that are at risk here; we’re talking about school lunches for kids. That’s what Governor Gavin Newsom is willing to give up in order to live by the lie that men can become women, men can get pregnant, and men should be in women’s sports,” Gaines said.
Campus Reform reached out to the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
