The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that California has violated Title IX for discriminating against women and girls by allowing transgender athletes to compete against them.
The California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) were both found to be in violation of Title IX.
The backstory: Federal officials launched an investigation into the CIF in February because the organization, which oversees California’s high school athletics, said it would allow transgender athletes to compete against women in defiance of an executive order from President Donald Trump.
- Officials launched a similar investigation into the California Department of Education two months later.
- Title IX, which was implemented in 1972, requires schools to ensure equal opportunities to girls.
- The issue came to a forefront earlier this month when transgender athlete AB Hernandez won two state titles against females in the CIF track and field championships.
The big picture: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights offered California a resolution to resolve the Title IX violations.
- If the California organizations reject the resolution, the federal government could pull the state’s education funding.
- Under the resolution, California would need to require all schools that receive federal funding to prohibit males from participating in female sports. Schools would also have to adopt biology-based definitions of the words “male” and “female.”
- The CIF would also have to restore all individual records, titles and awards to females that were misappropriated by male athletes who were competing in female competitions.
- The California Department of Education would have to send a personalized letter to each female athlete whose individual recognition is restored apologizing on behalf of the State of California for allowing her educational experience to be marred by sex discrimination.
State of play: The decision from the U.S. Department of Education comes one week after the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law that prohibits gender affirming care for minors.
- In that ruling, the Supreme Court acknowledged that a person’s identification as transgender is distinct from a person’s biological sex.
What they’re saying: “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. “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. The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow.”
