The state refused to sign a federal resolution agreement and says its laws support athletic participation based on gender identity.
California education officials are refusing to end policies that allow students who identify as transgender to participate in school sports consistent with their gender identities, rejecting pressure from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
In a letter dated July 7, the California Department of Education (CDE) told OCR that it “respectfully disagrees with OCR’s analysis” and will not sign a proposed resolution agreement involving student athletic participation. The letter, signed by General Counsel Len Garfinkel, came in response to a June 25 letter of finding from OCR.
According to a June 25 statement, OCR concluded that California’s sports policy—allowing students to participate in programs aligned with their gender identities—discriminates against female athletes by allowing males to compete in girls’ sports and use female-only facilities.
The department proposed a resolution agreement requiring the state to adopt biology-based definitions of sex and restore athletic titles and records to impacted female students.
“Although Governor Gavin Newsom admitted months ago it was ‘deeply unfair’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation continued as recently as a few weeks ago to allow men to steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said at the time, referring to comments Newsom made on a podcast earlier this year.
The June 25 statement also noted that OCR had opened separate investigations into both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation and warned that failure to comply could result in enforcement action from the Department of Justice.
The state’s rejection comes just days after a similar resolution agreement was reached with a Pennsylvania university. On July 1, the Department of Education announced that the University of Pennsylvania had signed a resolution agreement to resolve Title IX violations stemming from its decision to allow Lia Thomas, a male, to compete on the women’s swimming team and access female locker rooms.
By Chase Smith
