California officials have refused to back away from policies jeopardizing women’s sports, doubling down on transgender athlete inclusion in school athletics.
The California Department of Education (CDE) sent a letter to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), saying that it “respectfully disagrees with OCR’s analysis” on violations of Title IX.
“California has just REJECTED our resolution agreement to follow federal law and keep men out of women’s sports,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote in a statement on X. “Turns out Gov. Newsom’s acknowledgment that ‘it’s an issue of fairness’ was empty political grandstanding.” She added that Newsom will be hearing from Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The development comes as the OCR proposed a Resolution Agreement to CDE and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) to address the Title IX violations. “OCR has offered both entities an opportunity to voluntarily agree to change these unlawful practices within 10 days or risk imminent enforcement action, including referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for proceedings,” the office said in a June 25 statement.
In a March discussion with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, Newsom said transgender inclusion in sports is “an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that.”
“It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair,” he reiterated. “I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”
Conversely, the Department of Education reached a deal with the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), resulting in the university apologizing for its Title IX violations and agreeing to “ensure that women’s sports are protected at the University for future generations of female athletes,” McMahon said earlier this month.
