Judge tosses Trump DOJ lawsuit challenging California’s transgender sports policy

BS BULLETIN:

A federal judge dismissed the Trump Justice Department’s lawsuit challenging California policies that allow transgender girls to compete on girls’ school sports teams.
U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela ruled that California did not have sufficiently clear notice that receiving federal education money required it to exclude transgender girls from girls’ teams under Title IX.
The Justice Department, which had put roughly $44.3 billion in federal education funding at issue, says it is evaluating an appeal.

The Trump administration just lost a major round in its fight with California over transgender athletes in girls’ sports.

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit challenging California’s policies allowing transgender students to compete on school athletic teams consistent with their gender identity.

The DOJ had argued that California’s Department of Education and California Interscholastic Federation were violating Title IX by allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams. But Valenzuela rejected the federal government’s case.

The key issue wasn’t simply whether states may restrict girls’ sports to biological females. The Supreme Court recently ruled that states may impose biological-sex eligibility requirements for girls’ and women’s teams.

But Valenzuela noted that the high court did not rule that every state is required to impose such a restriction. The judge wrote that the Supreme Court “upheld the biological-sex eligibility rules before it without holding that Title IX requires every school to adopt the same rule.”

That distinction proved critical.

Valenzuela concluded that Title IX and its implementing regulations did not provide California with sufficiently clear notice that excluding transgender girls was a condition of receiving federal education funding. Under constitutional rules governing federal spending, Washington generally must clearly inform states about conditions attached to federal money.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit potentially placed a staggering amount of money on the line. When DOJ filed the case in July 2025, it said the Department of Education’s fiscal-year allocation to California totaled approximately $44.3 billion. The administration argued that California’s policy discriminates against female athletes by allowing biological males to compete against them, potentially affecting team positions, medals, scholarships, and other athletic opportunities.

“Title IX was enacted over half a century ago to protect women and girls from discrimination,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said when DOJ filed the lawsuit.

California has permitted transgender students to participate on teams corresponding with their gender identity since 2013. The issue became a national flashpoint with transgender track athlete AB Hernandez, who competed at California’s state track-and-field championships and won multiple events.

California’s athletic federation subsequently modified its competition rules so that the participation of a transgender athlete would not eliminate a cisgender female athlete from qualifying for an event, and additional medals could be awarded.

The Justice Department isn’t necessarily finished.

“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 DOJ spokesperson said.

The department said it is evaluating its options for an appeal. That means the larger legal question is far from settled. The Supreme Court has now said states can restrict participation based on biological sex.

California’s victory, however, means that ruling does not automatically require states to do so.