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Justice Department Orders California School Districts to Bar Transgender Athletes from Girls’ Sports

It follows California’s CIF pilot policy to award medals to displaced female athletes, introduced after transgender winners faced protests at state championships.

Before California's track and field meet on May 31, 2025, President Donald Trump demanded that transgender athletes like AB Hernandez not be allowed to compete in girls' track and field events. Three days before the meet, the California Interscholastic Federation enacted a rule change that allowed athletes assigned female at birth to receive medals based on where they would have finished if a transgender athlete had not competed. Hernandez, who placed first in the high jump and triple jump and finished second in the long jump, shared the podium with her cisgender competitors.
Guests witness Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signing the Save Women in Sports Act in Oklahoma City on March 30, 2022.
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Overview

  • The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division sent letters on June 2 ordering over 1,600 California school districts to certify by June 9 that they will bar transgender athletes or face constitutional lawsuits.
  • California Interscholastic Federation’s new “pilot entry process” guarantees that any female athlete displaced by a transgender competitor still qualifies for state finals and receives appropriate medals.
  • Transgender athletes AB Hernandez in California and Verónica Garcia in Washington won multiple girls’ track titles last weekend, prompting booing at medal ceremonies and counter-protests.
  • President Trump’s February executive order threatens to withhold federal funding from school programs allowing transgender athletes in women’s sports under Title IX.
  • The Chino Valley Unified school board and other districts have backed Title IX protections for girls, filing a federal complaint and supporting the DOJ’s directive to exclude transgender athletes.