US Department of Education Finds California in Violation of Title IX

After the conclusion of investigations conducted by the US Department of Education (DOE), the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) were found to have violated Title IX by discriminating against women by allowing male athletes to compete in female sports. 

“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,” US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated in a press release.

“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,” McMahon further said. 

The DOE is providing the CDE with several action items, which, if not met, will result in the loss of federal funding for schools in violation: 

For instance, the CDE must notify “all recipients of federal funding (Recipients) that operate interscholastic athletic programs in California” to comply with Title IX, and inform them that Title IX forbids schools from allowing male athletes to compete in female sports and utilize their facilities. Moreover, federally funded schools “must adopt biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female.’” 

In light of the loss of titles that could’ve been won by biological female athletes, the CDE is required to notify schools and the CIF that they must “restore to female athletes all individual records, titles, and awards misappropriated by male athletes competing in female competitions.”

During the 2025 CIF track postseason, AB Hernandez, a biological male, won several titles over the women he competed against, some by a slight margin. The DOE requires further redress to those who get their titles restored, demanded from the CDE.

On June 2, the White House declared June as ‘Title IX Month’ to commemorate the fifty-third anniversary of Title IX being signed into law.

“June will now be dedicated to commemorating women and celebrating their struggle for, and achievement of, equal educational opportunity,” the DOE stated in a press release.