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California defies Trump, won't ban trans athletes from school sports
California officials say they will not comply with Donald Trumps order to keep transgender athletes out of K-12 school sports.Secretary of Education Linda McMahon gave the state 10 days, beginning June 27, to sign on to an agreement to rescind any trans-inclusionary guidelines and send cisgender female athletes who lost to a trans opponent personalized apologies, The Sacramento Bee reports. The U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights had determined that California had violated federal nondiscrimination law by letting trans girls and women compete against cis females. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 bans sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funds. Democratic administrations have interpreted it as preventing anti-trans discrimination, while Trump's administration is using it to enable anti-trans discrimination.But California will not go along. The [California Department of Education] respectfully disagrees with OCRs analysis, and it will not sign the proposed Resolution Agreement, CDE General Counsel Len Garfinkle wrote Monday to OCR Regional Director Bradley Burke, according to the Bee.Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsoms staff termed the proposed agreement a political document and said it had no legal validity. It would also make the state violate its own trans-inclusive nondiscrimination laws, Newsoms aides said. California passed a law in 2013 allowing students to play on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.The Trump administration has threatened loss of federal funds to K-12 schools, colleges, and universities with trans-inclusive sports policies, and some have agreed to ban trans athletes, such as, recently, the University of Pennsylvania.Related: What does the science say about transgender women in sports?Newsom, usually a strong LGBTQ+ ally, received criticism this year for questioning the fairness of letting trans girls compete with cis girls. Now, with his state standing up for trans girls, hes catching fire from McMahon.California has just REJECTED our resolution agreement to follow federal law and keep men out of womens sports, she wrote on X. Turns out Gov. Newsoms acknowledgment that its an issue of fairness was empty political grandstanding. She said he would hear from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.California is already suing the federal government over the demand to change the states trans-inclusive policy. Changing that would violate state antidiscrimination law and the U.S. Constitution, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta.And just two weeks ago, a spokesman for Newsom downplayed McMahons threat of withholding federal funds. It wouldnt be a day ending in Y without the Trump administration threatening to defund California, Newsoms director of communications, Izzy Gardon, told The Advocate at the time. Now Secretary McMahon is confusing government with her WrestleMania days dramatic, fake, and completely divorced from reality. This wont stick.California has made one concession. In May, the California Interscholastic Federation quietly changed the rules for competing in the girls state track championships, with a pilot program allowing cis girls who narrowly missed qualifying allegedly due to the inclusion of a trans competitor a chance to compete. But a trans girl targeted by Trump, Jurupa Valley High School junior AB Hernandez, was still allowed to participate as well. Hernandez won two gold medals and one silver at the state finals, and her fellow athletes offered no objections.Maine has already stood up to Trumps attacks on trans athletes. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said the state would not change its trans-inclusive policies and that she would see Trump in court. After a federal court intervened in the administrations attempt to withhold school meal funding from Maine, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would restore the funds.Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, praised Californias latest action. This administration is targeting California in an attempt to intimidate it into backing away from its strong anti-discrimination laws, he told the Bee. Im encouraged to see the California Department of Education is standing up to that.
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