Officials from the California Department of Education on Monday refused to comply with the Trump administration’s request to ban transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports, following a July 7 deadline following a federal civil rights investigation.
State officials formally rejected the Civil Rights Investigation Bureau’s conclusion. This last month determined that California violated the rights of female students by allowing trans athletes to compete in sports in response to gender identity. Federal officials have given the states 10 days to comply with the order and agree to the proposed resolution.
“The California Department of Education will honour and oppose the analysis of the OCR and will not sign the proposed resolution agreement,” writes Len Garfinkel, an advisor to the California Agency, in a brief communication.
The statement of federal demand issued on June 25th made California fail to comply with unspecified “immediate enforcement measures.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon commented on California’s rejection in a social media post Monday.
“California has just rejected a resolution agreement to keep men out of women’s sports in accordance with federal law,” McMahon wrote at 12:08 p.m. “It turns out that the governor has a perception that it’s a matter of fairness.” General Pam Bondy.
McMahon’s post hinted at a comment from Gov. Gavin Newsom. Gavin Mewsom shows sympathy for those who challenge transgender girls competing in sports with Cisgender girls, calling it a matter of fairness.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to withhold federal funds from California, and in some instances his appointees have taken action over a variety of issues, including the existence of state programs to promote racial diversity and the rejection of national and local officials, working with immigration agents seeking to detain unauthorized immigrants.
Legal challenges are ongoing for these actions, including more than 20 lawsuits, including California. In some cases, the Trump administration has suppressed or canceled certain funds. In other instances, the judge either blocked the government or ordered the dollar to be restored.
In this conflict, the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Office began an investigation into the federal or CIF between California in February. This has overseen sports in over 1,500 high schools after the organization continued its policy of allowing trans students to compete according to their gender identity.
The investigation was later expanded to include the California Department of Education and local school districts.
In late June, the Trump administration asked California to “voluntarily agree” to change what it deemed “illegal practice” within 10 days.
Under the proposed resolution agreement, California must notify all recipients of federal funds running the Interscholastic Movement Program, which must comply with the Trump Administration’s interpretation of Title IX.
The notice states that “Title IX and its enforcement regulations prohibit schools from prohibiting men from participating in women’s sports and occupying women’s intimate facilities,” and that recipients of federal funds must specify “must adopt a biology-based definition of the terms “male” and “female.” ”
The CIF sent a different response on Monday. He also rejected the federal request.
California and federal officials look at the civil rights of transgender students through a variety of lenses. This clashes interpretations of what is legal under federal law called Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on gender.
Transgender athlete supporters will hold a sign to the left to show off their “Save Girls Sports” shirt outside the Riverside Unified School District in December to discuss the rights of transgender athletes.
(Allen J. Scheven/Los Angeles Times)
LGBTQ+ rights advocates say Title IX protections need to be extended to gender identity to include transgender girls.
Almost 20 states, including California, have laws that allow transgender students to participate in sports based on their gender identity. Other states have banned such participation.
To address the issue of athletes losing to awards, the CIF moved forward on May 27 with a plan to replicate the awards when trans athletes win the competition.
Under the new process, award-winning athletes will receive the same approval as if the trans athlete had not competed. The practice was applied to state competitions where Ab Hernandez, a 16-year-old transgender junior at Julpa Valley High School, won multiple medals at the state high school athletics championships.
However, the new CIF policy does not address team sports where it is more difficult to assess the impact of individual transathletes. Furthermore, the policy was not retroactively applied to rewrite the outcomes of past competitions.
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