California last week sued the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday over a demand that local school districts ban transgender youths from competing in sports, alleging that federal agencies have stepped over their powers in violation of state and federal law.
The “pre-enforcement” lawsuit was filed “in anticipation of impending legal retaliation against the California school system” in order to fail to comply with agency instructions by Monday’s deadline, Atty, California said. Gen. Rob Bonta is handling the lawsuit.
“The president and his administration are demanding that California school districts break the law and violate the constitution, or face legal retaliation. They are demanding that our schools discriminate against the students they care for and deny their constitutionally protected rights,” Bonta said in a statement. “Just because the president is against the law, it doesn’t make it less, as we have proven many times in court.”
The lawsuit will take place a week after assistant Atti. Gen. Hermet Dillon, Trump appointee and head of the federal Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, sent California school districts warning that he does not face a “written” potential “liability” to ban state and state laws to ban athletes from state competition if he is not facing California’s potential “liability.”
Dillon argued that by allowing trans athletes to compete, it would “deprive girls of benefits based solely on biological gender.”
State Supt. Tony Thurmond responded last week by saying in his letter that Dillon’s warnings were not legally weighted and that the district is still obliged to comply with state laws and that he would require transgender athletes to compete on teams based on gender identity.
The California Department of Education wrote to federal authorities on Monday to let them know that California school districts are not obligated to provide certification to the Department of Justice.
“There will be no change in the laws and circumstances that require new accreditation,” wrote Advisor Len Garfinkel. “In addition, the DOJ letter does not refer to any laws that allow a DOJ to require another ‘certification’. ”
“Not only transgender students, but all students benefit from a comprehensive school environment that is free from discrimination and harassment,” Garfinkel added. “When transgender students are treated equally, mental health outcomes reflect the outcomes of cisgender peers.”
The Bonta lawsuit calls on federal courts in Northern California to support the constitutionality of California’s anti-discrimination laws protecting transgender athletes, and to take other retaliatory measures against school districts that refuse to withhold funds or comply with Trump directives.
The lawsuit follows one of America’s fastest growing lines of legal and political obstacles. Does the 14th Amendment Equality Protection Clause – Frequently cited assurances against Constitutional discrimination – protect or undermine transgender rights?
Dillon, another member of the Trump administration and an anti-transgender activist across the country, argues that the inclusion of trans girls in youth sports is illegal discrimination against cisgender girls.
Bonta’s office and other LGBTQ+ advocates argue that the exclusion of transgender girls constitutes illegal discrimination and that courts agreed, including the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which governs California and much of the US West.
Dhillon argues that compliance with equal protection clauses requires categorical exclusions for transgender girls from women’s sports, as previously supported by the courts, but the exact opposite is true. Equal protection clauses, like California law, prohibit such a complete exclusion policy,” the Bonta office said.
State laws that allow trans students to participate in sports that are consistent with their identity “are head-on within the state’s authority to provide the benefits of a comprehensive school environment, including participation in school sports, and to prevent serious harm that trans students suffer from discriminatory and exclusive policies.”
Lawyers who support the removal of transgender athletes from women’s sports said the rights of female athletes are the most important in this situation.
Both the US Constitution and federal law provide protection to female athletes whose California violates by allowing California to “in the male-only category.”
“By instigating the flames of division and playing politics, leftist politicians and the media are causing even more harm to American girls,” Hamill said.
Polls show that not only do Americans support trans rights in general, but also show that the majority oppose trans girls who compete in youth sports. Many prominent supporters of removing trans girls from sports praised Dillon’s actions last week, admiring them as a bold move to protect cisgender girls from unfair competition.
Sonja Shaw, a Trump supporter, chairman of the Chino Valley Unified Education Board, called on the California school system to adopt a resolution supporting the Trump administration order.
“The interests couldn’t be high,” Shaw said last week. “Our daughters deserve to be safe and fair competition…but radical policies undermine that right, pushing boys into girls’ sports and threatening their opportunities. We’re not backing down.”
Shaw, a candidate for the state’s public leadership, said other school systems could model those resolutions through school districts.
A handful of states 1,000 school districts have passed such a resolution.
The lawsuit’s claim that retaliation from the Trump administration could be imminent for schools that do not follow the administration’s demands is not entirely speculative. It is based, at least in part, on repeated threats and actions. The administration has already taken the nation over comprehensive sports policy.
President Trump has fully stated that he wants to cut California’s federal funding over laws that allow trans athletes to compete in youth sports. The Federal Department of Justice has released a state and California interstate federal investigation into comprehensive policies for transgender athletes.
Our atty. Los Angeles’ Bill Essayli, Dillon’s longtime ally and his appointment has not yet been confirmed, recently threw his office support behind a private lawsuit challenging the inclusion of trans athletes on the athletics team at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside.
Dillon has issued a letter to the California school district after another transgender athlete at Julpa Valley High School, AB Hernandez, 16, won multiple medals at the state high school athletics championships despite demanding President Trump compete on social media.
The letter came despite the state’s attempts to soothe concern.
For example, after Trump’s online threat, the CIF updated the rules for its transgender competitors. As a result, Hernandez was allowed to compete in the state finals in the women’s long jump, high jump and triple jump, but her qualifying did not eliminate the cisgender girl.
Additionally, Hernandez was awarded several medals, but these were also awarded to cisgender girls who Hernandez would have claimed not to compete.
Supporters of the rules change said they eliminated concerns that Cisgender girls would lose the opportunity to compete and win against trans girls, but critics said change has not progressed well and trans athletes should be banned from competition entirely.
Dillon’s letter requesting the district certifies that such a ban is in place.
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