Education Secretary Linda McMahon warned California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) that the state may lose funding unless it complies with President Donald Trump’s order on protecting women’s sports.
McMahon drew attention to Newsom’s recent comment that male athletes participating in women’s sports is “deeply unfair,” requesting that he clarify his statement in light of Trump’s recent order.
“An overwhelming majority of Americans agree with you that biological men in women’s sports is unfair and wrong,” she wrote. “Many are confused, however, by your office’s silence on the harms of substituting ‘gender identity’ for sex in other areas of the school environment. After all, if men ‘identifying as women’ shouldn’t play in women’s sports, why do California schools continue to let boys ‘identifying as girls’ use girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, and sleep in girls-only overnight accommodations?”
McMahon noted that allowing participating in activities based on gender identity “places schools at risk of Title IX violations and loss of federal funding.”
“As Governor, you have a duty to inform California school districts of this risk,” she wrote, adding that she is “officially asking you to inform this Department whether you will remind schools in California to comply with federal law by protecting sex-separated spaces and activities. I am also officially asking you to publicly assure parents that California teachers will not facilitate the fantasy of ‘gender transitions’ for their children.”
The Education Department has also launched an investigation into the California Department of Education over alleged violations of the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) due to a state law prohibiting school personnel from sharing a child’s gender identity with his or her parents.
The department further revoked waivers to California and Oregon colleges that use federal funds to provide services to illegal immigrants. “American taxpayer dollars will no longer be used to subsidize illegal immigrants through Department of Education programs,” Acting Under Secretary James Bergeron said of the matter.
