California found in violation of Title IX over transgender athletes
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights concluded the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation has violated Title IX.- Both parties had been investigated over "allegations of discrimination against women and girls on the basis of sex," the Office for Civil Rights said.
- It comes amid an ongoing national debate over whether transgender female athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports.
- The Office for Civil Rights issued a proposed agreement to both the California Department of Education and CIF to resolve their Title IX violations.
The U.S. Department of Education said both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation have violated Title IX by allowing transgender female athletes to compete in women's and girls' sports in the state and is requesting that both parties change their "unlawful practices" within 10 days.
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights announced its Title IX investigation findings for both parties on Wednesday, June 25.
The Office for Civil Rights had investigated both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports in California, for "allegations of discrimination against women and girls on the basis of sex."
"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 in a news release.
"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 said.
She added that California must swiftly comply with Title IX or "face the consequences."
"The California Department of Education believes all students should have the opportunity to learn and play at school, and we have consistently applied existing law in support of students' rights to do so," Liz Sanders, director of communications at the California Department of Education, said in an emailed statement.
Rebecca Brutlag, the director of media for CIF, said in an emailed statement that CIF "does not comment on legal matters."
The Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into CIF back in February, saying in a news release that the organization had announced their intentions to comply with California law despite President Donald Trump's then recently signed executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," one that targets transgender female athletes competing in women's sports in the nation.
California's AB 1266 requires that students be allowed to participate in sex-segregated school programs like sports teams and competitions consistent with their gender identity, regardless of their gender listed on their records.
In a post on X in April, McMahon said that the Department of Education and the Department of Justice's Title IX Special Investigations Team had initiated an investigation into the California Department of Education for "their alleged failure to protect women's sports."
Weeks later, CIF and California officials were swept into the national spotlight when a Jurupa Unified School District transgender female athlete competed in the state track and field championships, quickly becoming the subject of a political firestorm.
What happens next? California gets deadline to change 'unlawful practices'
Both parties risk "imminent enforcement action" if they do not voluntarily agree to change what the Office for Civil Rights describes as "unlawful practices" within 10 days, according to a news release, including being referred to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Office for Civil Rights has proposed a resolution agreement to both the state education department and CIF to resolve their Title IX violations. According to the news release, among what the agreement requires is for the state education department to issue a notice to all recipients of federal funding that operate interscholastic sports programs in the state to comply with Title IX, specifying that its forbidden for schools to allow "males from participating in female sports and from occupying female intimate facilities."
The proposed agreement doesn't explicitly state that transgender female athletes cannot be allowed to compete in women's sports, instead describing its above directive and other directives as pertaining to "male athletes."
The state education department would also have to issue a notice that any interpretation of California's laws conflicting with the proposed agreement is preempted by federal law under Title IX and that both the state education department and CIF must rescind any guidance that advised school districts or CIF members that allowed transgender female athletes to participate in women's and girls' sports.
Additionally, CIF would have to restore records, titles, and awards to female athletes "misappropriated" by transgender female athletes competing in women's competitions in California.
In May, CIF announced that it was implementing a rule change for this year's state track and field championships, including allowing athletes whose sex assigned at birth was female and who would have earned the next qualifying mark had a transgender female athlete not competed to advance to the finals. Additionally, these athletes could receive the medal for the podium placement they would have earned had a transgender female athlete not competed.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at pbarraza@gannett.com.
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The civil rights office has given the Golden State 10 days to reverse course or face “imminent enforcement action” that could include a referral to the Department of Justice.