DOJ announces Title IX probe over trans athletes in California girls’ sports
City News Service
LOS ANGELES (KESQ) – U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced today that prosecutors are investigating whether California law is at odds with federal civil rights guarantees to female students whose athletics programs host biological males identifying as girls, holding out a case in the Riverside Unified School District as an example of alleged violations.
“The law is clear: discrimination on the basis of sex is illegal and immoral,” Essayli said. “My office and the rest of the U.S. Department of Justice will work tirelessly to protect girls’ sports and stop anyone — publicofficials included — from violating women’s civil rights.”
He said legal notices had been served on California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and administrators for the California Interscholastic Federation, informing them of the federal government’s intent to proceed with a civil rights action, naming them as defendants, based on alleged discriminatory practices stemming from Title IX.
There was no immediate response from state officials.
According to the DOJ, the investigation specifically targets state Assembly Bill 1266, the 2013 legislation aimed at preventing discrimination against transgender students and ensuring their right to take part in school activities, including athletics.
“Title IX exists to protect women and girls in education. It is perverse to allow males to compete against girls, invade their private spaces, and take their trophies,” Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in a statement. “This division will aggressively defend women’s hard-fought rights to equal educational opportunities.”
During his previous term as a state assemblyman representing northwest Riverside County, Essayli rallied to the cause of parents, guardians, female athletes and others opposed to school districts that had implemented policies tied to transgender participation in athletics programs previously reserved for biological females only.
Last year, Essayli and Assemblywoman Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, joined in seeking remedies to Assembly Bill 1266, signed into law in 2013, focusing on “pupil rights” by expanding Section 221.5 of the California Education Code regarding students’ participation in courses.
The thrust of AB 1266 was that a “pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”
AB 1266 remains on the books.
In coordination with the Title IX investigation, DOJ officials also announced the agency has filed a “statement of interest” in a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of two Riverside high school students who said they faced repercussions for wearing T-shirts opposing a transgender student on the school’s track-and-field team.
That suit, filed by Murrieta-based Advocates for Faith & Freedom, relates to the treatment of two female athletes, identified in court papers only as “K.S.,” a then-ninth-grade cross country competitor, and “T.S.,” an 11th grader who was the girls’ team captain at King High.
The plaintiffs are seeking injunctions against the school district, particularly King High, alleging First and Fourteenth Amendment violations.
“The suit contends that RUSD’s policies unfairly restrict their freedom of expression and deny them fair and equal access to athletic opportunities,” according to the plaintiffs.
The two girls wore shirts in early 2024 bearing the messages “Save Girls’ Sports” and “It’s Common Sense — XX (does not equal) XY.” The plaintiffs alleged school administrators ordered the students to remove or conceal the shirts, claiming they created a “hostile environment.”
“The civil complaint highlights RUSD’s failure to comply with Title IX, which guarantees equal athletic opportunities based on biological sex,” according to the plaintiffs. “T.S. was ousted from her position on the varsity cross country team to make room for a biological male transgender athlete, who did not consistently attend practices and failed to meet the team’s strict qualifying requirements. As a result, T.S. missed opportunities to compete at a high-profile meet, losing valuable chances for college recruitment and recognition.”
King High has been a hotbed of activity connected to the presence of transgender students. In 2023, one of them was reportedly expelled for assaulting a girl in a dispute over the individual’s use of a designated female locker room.
Without using her name, the DOJ’s Title IX letter to CIF specifically referenced transgender Jurupa Valley High School track and field AB Hernandez, who will compete in this weekend’s state championship meet in the triple jump, long jump and high jump events.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump posted on social media that he would withhold federal funding from California if transgender athletes are allowed to compete in girls sports, and he called on local authorities to prevent AB Hernandez from competing in this weekend’s CIF State meet.
“California, under the leadership of Radical Left Democrat Gavin Newsom, continues to ILLEGALLY allow `MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.’ This week a transitioned male athlete, at a major event, won `everything,’ and is now qualified to compete in the `State Finals’ next weekend.”
The athlete Trump is presumably referring to is Hernandez.
“As a male, he was a less than average competitor. As a female, this transitioned person is practically unbeatable. THIS IS NOT FAIR, AND TOTALLY DEMEANING TO WOMEN AND GIRLS,” Trump wrote. “Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to. The Governor, himself, said it is `UNFAIR.’ I will speak to him today to find out which way he wants to go??? In the meantime I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation!!!”
The CIF on Tuesday announced a change in the entry rules for the state track-and-field champion meet, essentially expanding the field of competitors in various events to ensure “biological female” athletes are not excluded from the competition, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
“Under this pilot entry process, any biological female student- athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section’s automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet, was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships,” according to CIF. “The CIF believes this pilot entry process achieves the participation opportunities we seek to afford our student-athletes.”
The CIF statement did not specifically mention transgender athletes, although the governor’s office noted the change is aimed at ensuring biological female athletes won’t be displaced from this weekend’s meet, while still allowing transgender athletes to compete.
“CIF’s proposed pilot is a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness — a model worth pursuing,” the governor’s office Director of Communications Izzy Gardon said in a statement. “The governor is encouraged by this thoughtful approach.”
AB Hernandez will be the only openly transgender athlete competing at the CIF State Track and Field meet. She is ranked as one of the top athletes in California, ranked by athletic.net No. 1 in the triple jump and No. 2 in the long jump.
Hernandez won the girls invitational portion of the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut in April and CIF Southern Section Division 3 titles in May at Moorpark High School in the long jump and triple jump.