A federal judge appointed by President Biden has handed California a victory in its fight to keep biological males competing on girls’ sports teams, dismissing a Justice Department lawsuit that threatened to strip $44.3 billion in federal funding from the state’s schools.
U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela threw out the case on procedural grounds, ruling that the federal government failed to properly notify California that its funding could be at risk if schools continued allowing transgender athletes to compete against girls. The dismissal leaves the state’s controversial policies intact and the broader battle over fairness in women’s sports unresolved.
The Justice Department isn’t backing down. “We are disappointed by the Court’s order, and remain committed to enforcing President Trump’s agenda preventing boys from playing in girls’ sports,” a department spokesperson said, referring to transgender athletes who are biological males.
The agency is “evaluating our options for appeal,” according to The Los Angeles Times.
The lawsuit represented a direct challenge to California’s permissive policies on transgender athletes, policies that have sparked outrage among parents who say their daughters are being forced to compete against biological males with inherent physical advantages.
That anger boiled over in May when AB Hernandez, a biological male who identifies as a girl, won a medal at the CIF State Track & Field Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High School in Clovis. Parents showed up with signs that read “No boys. No bias. Just fairness” and “Save Girl’s Sports.”
Others accused event officials of allowing boys to compete and said males winning means the events have been “stolen from our daughters.”
The legal challenge was spearheaded by two officials who cut their teeth fighting California’s progressive policies before joining the Trump administration. Harmeet Dhillon served as a conservative attorney in the state before President Trump elevated her to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Bill Essayli was a conservative state lawmaker before taking the helm at the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
Together, they brought the full weight of the federal government against California’s transgender athlete rules, threatening the state’s massive federal education funding if officials refused to comply.
Judge Valenzuela’s ruling sidesteps the central question of whether allowing biological males to compete against girls violates federal civil rights protections. Instead, the Biden appointee focused narrowly on whether the DOJ followed proper procedures in warning California about the funding consequences.
That hands-off approach has drawn criticism from conservatives who say Newsom is ducking accountability while girls across California are forced to compete on an uneven playing field.
The dismissal marks a setback for the Trump administration’s efforts to protect women’s sports at the federal level, but the fight is far from over. With the Justice Department signaling its intent to appeal, California’s policies could still face judicial scrutiny on the merits.
