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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in the briefing room at the White House on June 27, 2025; California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaking at a press conference, January 6, 2025
The lawsuit comes after California officials said they would not comply with the administration's demands.
The Trump administration is suing California over its policy allowing transgender athletes to compete under their gender identity in K-12 school sports.
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This comes after state officials said Monday that they would not comply with the administration’s demand that California rescind any trans-inclusive policies and apologize to any cisgender female athlete who lost to a trans opponent.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed the suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation are named as defendants.
The suit argues that California’s trans-inclusive policy, written into state law in 2013, “ignore[s] undeniable biological differences between boys and girls, in favor of an amorphous ‘gender identity.’ The results of these illegal policies are stark: girls are displaced from podiums, denied awards, and miss out on critical visibility for college scholarships and recognition.”
The state is committing “illegal sex discrimination against female student athletes,” violating Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bans sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funds. Democratic presidential administrations have interpreted Title IX as banning anti-trans discrimination, while the Trump administration’s interpretation is trans-exclusionary.
The U.S. Department of Education has threatened to withhold federal funding from California if it continues to allow trans athletes to compete under their gender identity, in keeping with an executive order issued by Donald Trump early in his second term threatening funding for all states as well as colleges and universities if they continue with trans-inclusive polices.
The U.S. Department of Education’s “current allocation of funds to CDE for fiscal year 2025 totals approximately $44.3 billion, of which approximately $3.8 billion remains available for drawdown by CDE, including both discretionary grants and formula grants,” the suit states.
Related: What does the science say about transgender women in sports?
The lawsuit seeks an end to the current California policy and compensation for any cis females “who have been denied equal athletic opportunities due to Defendants’ violations, including correcting past athletics records.” It also seeks an enforcement mechanism to ensure the state’s compliance.
The suit cites California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s comments from a podcast this year in which he questioned the fairness of letting trans girls compete against cis girls. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi cited it in a press release as well.
“The Governor of California has previously admitted that it is ‘deeply unfair’ to force women and girls to compete with men and boys in competitive sports,” she said. “But not only is it ‘deeply unfair,’ it is also illegal under federal law. This Department of Justice will continue its fight to protect equal opportunities for women and girls in sports.”
Newsom is not named in the lawsuit. The California Department of Education and California Interscholastic Federation are independent of Newsom’s administration and are following state law, a spokesperson for the governor told Politico.
“No court has adopted the interpretation of Title IX that is being advanced by the federal government, and neither the governor nor they get to wave a magic wand and override it — unlike Donald Trump, California follows the law,” spokesperson Izzy Gardon said in a statement.
California is already suing the federal government over the demand to change the state’s trans-inclusive policy. Changing that would violate state antidiscrimination law and the U.S. Constitution, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
California has made one concession to Trump's threats. In May, the California Interscholastic Federation quietly changed the rules for competing in the girls’ state track championships, with a pilot program allowing cis girls who narrowly missed qualifying — allegedly due to the inclusion of a trans competitor — a chance to compete. But a trans girl targeted by Trump, Jurupa Valley High School junior AB Hernandez, was still allowed to participate as well. Hernandez won two gold medals and one silver at the state finals, and her fellow athletes offered no objections.
Maine has already stood up to Trump’s attacks on trans athletes. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said the state would not change its trans-inclusive policies and that she would see Trump in court. After a federal court intervened in the administration’s attempt to withhold school meal funding from Maine, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would restore the funds.
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