Trump admin puts California on notice over transgender athletes: Clear violation

WASHINGTON — California discriminated against women and girls by letting biological men compete on their sports teams and enter their bathrooms and locker rooms, a Trump administration civil rights probe concluded Wednesday.The US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights determined that California’s Education Department and Interscholastic Federation, which has received state funding, were in “clear violation of Title IX” for having “actively prevented this equality of opportunity by allowing males in girls’ sports and intimate spaces.”The civil rights office has given the Golden State 10 days to reverse course — or face “imminent enforcement action” that could include a referral to the Department of Justice.“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,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.“The Trump Administration will relentlessly enforce Title IX protections for women and girls, and our findings today make clear that California has failed to adhere to its obligations under federal law.The state must swiftly come into compliance with Title IX or face the consequences that follow.”The 1972 law is meant to protect equal opportunities regardless of sex in schools receiving federal funds.Most Americans — and as many as 69% of Democrats — support sex-segregated sports participation, a New York Times poll found in January.Several Western nations — including the UK — have also banned or severely limited the practice of hormone therapy and providing puberty-blocking drugs to children, citing physical and psychological harms and the need for further study of long-term ...