California education officials this week formally rejected a federal demand to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, a decision that the Trump administration indicated would result in repercussions.
The administration nearly two weeks ago declared that the California Department of Education had violated federal law by allowing transgender girls to compete on female sports teams. It gave the state until Monday to reverse its policies or face “imminent enforcement action.”
President Trump and other federal officials ramped up their pressure on California after a trans girl qualified for California’s state track and field meet at the end of May. The president at that time threatened to withhold federal funding from the state if it did not bar the trans athlete from competing in the girls competition at the event.
The athlete was allowed to compete and finished in first place in the high jump and triple jump, but meet officials compromised by also awarding medals to girls based on where they would have finished had the trans girl not participated.
Len Garfinkel, general counsel for the California Department of Education, notified the Trump administration on Monday that it “respectfully disagrees” that the state had violated girls’ rights under Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination, and would not comply with the administration’s requests, according to a letter shared with The New York Times.
The California Interscholastic Federation, a nongovernmental body that oversees high school sports in the state, also declined to change its policies, according to screenshots posted on X by Linda McMahon, the U.S. education secretary.
Ms. McMahon signaled that California would face enforcement actions and that the state would hear next from Attorney General Pam Bondi.
California has allowed transgender student athletes to compete on teams that align with their gender identities for more than a decade under a law signed in 2013. More than 20 states nationwide have similar policies. California leaders indicated last month that they had no intention of changing their policies, and complying with the Trump administration demand would have required a legislative change.
Out of 5.8 million K-12 students in California public schools, fewer than 10 were estimated to be trans students participating in athletics, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.
But President Trump and other Republicans this year have seized on comments that Mr. Newsom made in March on his podcast. The governor, a Democrat, said that the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports was “deeply unfair.”
As the president demanded that California bar the trans athlete from the state track and field meet, he cited Mr. Newsom’s own comments. Ms. McMahon did the same in a post on X on Monday.
“Turns out Gov. Newsom’s acknowledgment that ‘it’s an issue of fairness’ was empty political grandstanding,” she wrote.
Soumya Karlamangla is a Times reporter who covers California. She is based in the Bay Area.
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