SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — In a series of letters sent Monday, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation formally denied the Trump Administration’s demand to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports.
Back in June, the White House threatened action against California as President Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull federal funding over the issue.
“These are funds that we need, so again, why not go along with what is federal law and ensure that women have equal opportunities in sport,” said Assemblymember James Gallagher.
Gallagher is the Republican leader in the State Assembly. He says the decision to not ban trans athletes is a violation of Title IX, and a reckless gamble by California leaders that will now likely end up in court.
MORE: CA violated Title IX over transgender athletes, U.S. Education Department says
“This tendency to, rather than try to work with the administration, to file lawsuits. And at the end of the day a lot of money gets spent and to what avail?” said Gallagher.
While Gallagher believes state leaders are making a mistake refusing to comply with the Trump administration and therefore risking millions of dollars, others have applauded the move.
Some say it’s a way to defend the rights of transgender Californians.
That includes Jorge Reyes Salinas of Equality California, who says the Trump Administration has specifically targeted trans people.
MORE: California sues DOJ over transgender athlete funding threat
“We know that healthcare is being, gender affirming care, transgender healthcare. We know that the suicide hotline is being cut,” Reyes Salinas said.
Reyes Salinas says California has laws specifically designed to protect the rights of transgender people. He believes the administration’s threats to withhold funding are a distraction from other issues facing Americans every day.
“This is political theater that again as we talked about earlier is a very small percentage, it’s a very small number of students who are transgender and want to participate in school sports,” said Reyes Salinas.
In a post on X Monday night, the Secretary of Education said Governor Newsom would be hearing from the country’s attorney general.
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
