The Trump administration is suing the California Department of Education and California Interscholastic Federation after the state continued to allow transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.
The president signed an executive order in February ‘keeping men out of women’s sports’ and banning trans athletes from competing in women’s divisions.
However, trans athletes have continued to compete in California, and now the Trump administration is asking for an immediate injunction to put an end to that.
The lawsuit comes after California on Monday formally refused to comply with a demand from the Trump administration to sign a proposed resolution agreement on the issue.
Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from the state and Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on X that California would ‘be hearing from’ Attorney General Pam Bondi after learning of the resolution agreement rejection.
In a June 25 notice, the administration called for the state to ‘adopt biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female.”
The Trump administration is suing California in the latest development in their trans sports war
Federal officials opened an investigation into the California Interscholastic Federation in February after the organization said it would abide by a state law allowing athletes to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity.
In April, McMahon’s department opened an investigation into the California Department of Education over the same issue.
Both investigations concluded that state policies violated Title IX, a 1972 law forbidding sex discrimination based in education.
While Trump has made the issue of trans athletes in women’s sports a core issue of his second campaign, California has continued to flout federal demands under Gov. Gavin Newsom.
There was fierce backlash in the state when AB Hernandez, a biological male, claimed gold in the high jump and triple jump at the California Interscholastic Federation state finals at the end of May.
The junior from Jurupa Valley High School also won a triple jump competition by nearly three feet at the Roosevelt International in California back in March.
Hernandez’s participation in women’s sports has drawn furious protests from parents.
There was also an instance of a trans high school basketball player dominating in the women’s division back in February – after Trump had signed his order banning trans athletes from women’s sports.
However, the athlete did not appear in their team’s playoff game later that month amid protests from some parents.
Trump has also clashed with Maine, as he had a now-infamous run-in with Democratic governor Janet Mills back in February.
During a White House meeting, she told Trump ‘see you in court’ over his threat to withdraw federal funding if Maine did not comply with his trans sports ban.
Maine is also currently being sued by the Department of Justice over its refusal to ban transgender athletes.
However, in the wake of pressure from Trump, some schools have elected to rescind policies stating that students can participate in sports based on their gender identity.
More to follow
