California, don’t give in to Donald Trump. Defend transgender athletes | Opinion

After months of threats, the other shoe dropped: The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday morning that California violated Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports.

An investigation found that California violated Title IX’s guarantee of “equality in opportunity” by “allowing males in girls sports and intimate spaces” — a reference to locker rooms and restrooms.

The question now is how the state should respond to this repugnant ruling, which gives California 10 days to voluntarily change its “unlawful practices” or “risk imminent enforcement action.”

Billions of dollars in education funding could be at stake. Trump has threatened to impose “large scale fines” on California if it refuses to follow his executive order banning trans athletes from womens sports.

He already used that tactic on Maine, which also allows transgender athletes to participate in girls sports. As a result, the U.S. Department of Agriculture withheld millions of dollars in funding for Maine’s school lunch program. However, the agency agreed to unfreeze the funding after a judge ruled that the USDA did not follow proper legal procedures.

The fight isn’t over; the federal government is suing Maine in federal court over the transgender issue. A December court date has been scheduled.

A campaign of discrimination

Allowing transgender athletes on girls teams has been controversial, even in liberal California where a “Save Girls Sports” movement has taken hold in many communities.

In response to complaints about pitting girls against biological males, who tend to be bigger and stronger, CIF adjusted its rules for the track-and-field finals in Clovis to ensure girls would not be penalized if they finished behind a trans athlete. As a result, multiple medals were awarded in the high jump and triple jump after a transgender athlete won both events.

That did not appease the Trump administration, which is demanding that California strip awards “misappropriated by male athletes competing in female competitions.”

CIF may not have devised a perfect solution, but California is working to address concerns about fairness and equity in sports. It should be allowed to do so without interference from an administration trying to bully states into complying with its transphobic agenda, which isn’t confined to keeping trans athletes off girls teams.

Transgender members of the military — including some high-ranking officers who have served for decades — are being forced out due to a Trump edict.

The Trump administration has not even attempted to hide its contempt for the transgender community. Here’s what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had to say during a special operations forces conference in Tampa held in May:

“No more pronouns. No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that s---.”

Leave the issue to the states

Given the conservative makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court, there is no guarantee that blue states like Maine and California will ultimately prevail on the transgender athletics issue.

That should not matter. Allowing this administration to trample on the rights of a group of people — no matter how small that group may be — opens the door to further injustices.

Nor should the federal government be permitted to undermine the states, which have legal authority under the 10th Amendment to set their own education policies.

Threatening to punish the nearly 6 million K-12 students enrolled in California’s public schools by withholding education funds — all because the president wants to exert his will on an issue that should be left to each state — is obscene.

Do not let our transphobic president get away with it without a fight.

This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM with the headline "California, don’t give in to Donald Trump. Defend transgender athletes | Opinion."