The Justice Department opened an inquiry Wednesday into whether a California state law allowing transgender student athletes to compete in women’s sports violates federal Title IX rules against sex discrimination.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, the Jurupa Unified School District and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) were informed of the investigation in “letters of legal notice” sent by the DOJ.
The CIF oversees high school sports in the state, and the Jurupa Unified School District is home to the school where a transgender track athlete recently won titles in the girls’ long jump and triple jump.
“The investigation is to determine whether California, its senior legal, educational, and athletic organizations, and the school district are engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of sex,” the DOJ said in a statement.
The probe was opened in response to a lawsuit filed by the families of two girls at a Riverside, Calif., high school, alleging that the state statute “is harming hundreds – if not thousands – of female students by removing opportunities for female athletes to be champions in their own sports, robbing them of podium positions and awards, and creating unsafe and intimidating environments in their bathrooms and locker rooms” — and is at odds with Title IX.
One of the plaintiffs in the case – an 11th-grade female cross-country athlete – claims she was removed from her position on the Martin Luther King High School girls’ varsity cross-country team to make room for a biological male athlete and, as a result, was prevented from participating in elite competitions and being recruited by colleges and universities.
The lawsuit further alleges that the Riverside Unified School District, and Martin Luther King High School’s principal, assistant principal and athletic director “violated the constitutional rights” of the 11th-grader and another plaintiff, a 9th-grader, by ordering them to remove t-shirts protesting the girl’s removal from the cross-country team.
“Title IX exists to protect women and girls in education. It is perverse to allow males to compete against girls, invade their private spaces, and take their trophies,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement.
“This Division will aggressively defend women’s hard-fought rights to equal educational opportunities,” she added.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office and Bonta’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The investigation announcement comes one day after President Trump warned that he would consider stripping California of at least some federal funding if it continues to allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
“California, under the leadership of Radical Left Democrat Gavin Newscum, continues to ILLEGALLY allow ‘MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS,’” Trump fumed on Truth Social Tuesday.
“THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS. Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to,” he added.
Back in February, Trump signed an executive order that threatened to strip federal funding from states that don’t bar transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Hours after Trump’s post, CIF announced that it would expand the number of permitted participants at the upcoming track and field championship meet in order to allow “any biological female student-athlete” who initially failed to qualify for the event, because of the participation of transgender athletes, to compete.
