The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether California’s law allowing transgender student athletes in girls’ sports violates Title IX, which bans sex-based discrimination. The DOJ sent legal notices to Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), and the Jurupa Unified School District. The CIF oversees high school sports, and Jurupa includes the school where a transgender athlete recently won girls’ long jump and triple jump titles.
The DOJ aims to determine whether these entities are engaged in sex-based discrimination. The probe follows a lawsuit from two families at a Riverside high school, claiming the law harms female athletes by denying them fair competition, awards, and safety, and violates Title IX. One plaintiff, a junior cross-country runner, says she lost her varsity spot to a biological male and missed recruitment opportunities. The suit also claims school officials violated the rights of two girls by forcing them to remove shirts protesting the incident.
“Title IX exists to protect women and girls in education,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. “We will aggressively defend equal opportunities for them.”
Governor Newsom and Bonta’s offices did not respond to requests for comment.
The investigation comes a day after former President Trump threatened to pull federal funding from California over the issue. Hours later, CIF said it would expand the field at the state track championships to include biological girls who may have missed out due to transgender participation.
