U.S. Justice Department sues California over transgender athlete policy
The federal lawsuit seeks to withhold $3.8 billion that’s set aside for the state for the remainder of the 2025 fiscal year.
The U.S. Department of Justice Wednesday threatened to withhold billions of dollars in federal funding as it filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Education over the policy that allows transgender student athletes to compete in girls sports, just weeks after federal officials ruled the state violated civil rights.
The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana said the state education agency and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) discriminate against female students by “allowing males to compete against them.”
“These discriminatory policies and practices ignore undeniable biological differences between boys and girls, in favor of an amorphous “gender identity,” the lawsuit said, claiming the state’s policy resulted in female student athletes’ losing scholarships and recognitions.
The complaint echoed the ruling the U.S. Department of Education issued last month, saing the state and CIF were in violation of Title IX, a civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program or activity. U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon had said the state’s policy of allowing men to “steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions.”
The lawsuit specifically noted AB Hernandez, transgender athlete from Jurupa Valley High school, as Student 1, using the track and field athlete as an example of California’s alleged discrimination against female athletes, saying Hernandez’s records would not have resulted in medals if the student athlete had competed in in the boys’ competitions, including the ones held during the 105th California State Track & Field Championships in May.
“Student 1 placed first in the triple jump, tied for first in the high jump, and took second in the long jump,” the DOJ’s lawsuit stated. “Had Student 1 competed in the boys’ competition at that meet, his distances would have finished last in all three events, and he would not have even qualified to compete in the finals had he competed against the boys in the May 31, 2025, preliminaries.”
The Justice Department also mentioned Governor Newsom’s comments during his podcast in March in the complaint as he told conservative commentator Charlie Kirk that “it’s deeply unfair” for trans female athletes to be competing in women’s sports.
“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,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “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.”
Through the lawsuit, the federal government wishes the court to force California to “permanently” reflect the U.S. Department of Education’s stance on transgender athletes while ordering the CIF to issue directives to schools, so they can prohibit “the participation of males in athletic competitions designated for females.”
The complaint also seeks to withhold $3.8 billion that’s set aside for the state for the remainder of the 2025 fiscal year. The federal funding can be issued as both discretionary grants and formula grants.
The Justice Department said the state was projected to receive $44.3 billion in total from the federal government in the current fiscal year, which ends on Sep. 30, 2025.
While Gov. Newsom is not the named as a defendant in the lawsuit, his office issued a statement, saying the state’s education department and CIF are following the School Success and Opportunity Act, which was passed in 2013 to allow transgender athletes to participate based on their gender identity while taking away discretion from individual school districts to determine their own policy on transgender student athlete.
“No court has adopted the interpretation of Title IX 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,” the governor’s office said Wednesday.
“At a time when the Trump administration is withholding billions in funds for education, this ongoing attack is a cynical attempt to distract from the Trump administration’s defunding of nearly 3 million girls enrolled in California’s public school,” the statement added.
Also in response, Equality California, an LGBTQ+ civil rights organization condemned the lawsuit as a “cruel and baseless political stunt.”
“All students deserve a fair, safe, and supportive learning environment, including the opportunity to play sports. Transgender youth are not a threat, but they continue to be targeted by the Trump Administration in a coordinated campaign of hate and misinformation,” the group said.
The federal government is requesting trial by jury in their legal pursuit.