The U.S. Department of Justice has put forward efforts to stop trans athletes from participating in school sports in California, warning school districts on Monday that they will face legal trouble if they don’t leave the state and turn such athletes out within a few days.
The new warning follows similar threats from the Trump administration to the state and California Interscholastic Federation, which manages youth sports and requires transgender athletes to compete. It was also the 16-year-old trans junior AB Hernandez at Jurupa Valley High School who won multiple medals at the state high school track and field championship on Saturday, despite a directive from President Trump that she would not allow competition.
Assistant Atti. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon — a conservative California lawyer who focused on challenging LGBTQ+-friendly state laws before being appointed by Trump to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division — wrote in a Monday letter to school districts that continuing to comply with CIF rules allowing transgender athletes to compete “would deprive girls of athletic opportunities and benefits based solely on their biological sex,” in violation of the US Constitution.
To “avoid legal liability,” Dhillon wrote, every district must “prove in writing” by June 9, which no longer complies with federal rules and prohibits trans athletes from participating in competitions.
Dhillon said on social media platform X that her office would “more than 1,600 California schools suffered an explosion of violations of equal protections for women’s sports.”
Daliron's letter did not mention the CIF's rule changes after Trump threatened to withdraw federal funds when he threatened to withdraw Hernandez's participation in the state championship. This change allows any cisgender Girl who is a transgender athlete to compete in the finals of the competition. It also ensures that Cisgender Girls won medals in every game, regardless of Hernandez's position.
The policy is intended as a compromise, but the Conservative claim that people who have completely banned trans athletes received little support.
In addition to Trump’s threat of funding, the Delon office announced last week that it is conducting an investigation into the states, the Interscholastic Federation and the Julapa Unified School District where Hernandez competes.
A spokesperson for California. General Rob Bonta said officials there were “very concerned about the ongoing threats from the Trump administration to California schools and were committed to defending and upholding California laws, as well as all other laws that ensure the rights of students, including trans students, from discrimination and harassment.”
The spokesman said the office is “reviewing the letter and closely monitors the Trump administration’s actions in the field.”
California Department of Education spokesman Elizabeth Sanders said the agency had no comments on Dhillon's letter Monday, but was “preparing to send guidance to the district” on Tuesday. She said California. Tony Thurmond's public instructions also did not respond on Monday.
The Los Angeles Unified School District declined to comment. Other areas around Los Angeles did not respond to requests for comment.
LGBTQ+ advocates criticized Dhillon's letter, saying it was the latest evidence that the Trump administration is not actually concerned with protecting Sisgender athletes, but rather scoring points against trans children.
Shannon Minter, vice president of law at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, helped draft the initial rules of the Interscholastic Federation to enable transgender athletes to compete and support the new rules – which ensures both transgender and cisgender athletes can compete, he said.
For example, at the party last weekend, Hernandez's competition didn't get any cisgender Girls out of the game.
Hernandez won gold medals in both the triple jump for girls and the high jump for girls and ranked second in the girls' long jump, but wasn't alone in these attractions.
For the triple jump, she stood on the podium with someone given gold. In the high jump, she shared the podium with two cisgender Girls who were tied with her. To jump, she shared the podium for the second place with a Sigurd girl who was also awarded a silver medal.
The new rules address “people’s concerns about getting opportunities from non-transformed girls and make sure that this is impossible – literally, it completely removes that concern.”
By ignoring the new rules, Dalyon's letter “shows what we already know, that this administration doesn't care about sports opportunities for girls, it's just a bias against trans people – pure and simple.”
Critics who criticize transgender youth for participating in sports, meanwhile, Delon’s letter cheers for a major victory.
Sophia Lorey, outreach director for the conservative California Family Council, said it was “huge.” Lorey distributes flyers and urges people to sign a petition asking for a petition to change its policies and be kicked out of the state championship.
“We're here!” Lorey wrote on X. “I am deeply grateful as a Californian who was born and raised to play football through college.”
At least a handful of California school districts with conservative elected leaders will be eager to comply with the new directives.
On April 17, the Chino Valley United School Board unanimously approved a resolution entitled “Title and Fairness in Girls’ Interschool Movement.” The resolution states: “The biological differences between male and female athletes can create inherent advantages in competitive sports, especially in categories specifically designated for girls.”
The school system calls on state governing bodies to maintain girls targeting sports in sports in Title IX, a federal civil rights law of 1972 that prohibits gender discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive federal funding.
In April, the school system also filed a Chapter IX complaint with the federal Department of Justice against Gavin Newsom, the California Department of Education, Thurmond and the California Interscholastic Federation.
The complaint said Chino Valley was “now caught between conflicting states and federal directives” and called for “emergency federal intervention.”
Sonja Shaw, chairman of the Chino Valley Unified School Board, wrote on X that Dhillon's letter was a “historic victory” of parents, their daughter, the country and the “truth.”
“We won't bend over. We won't compromise. We will protect our daughter at all costs,” wrote Shaw, who runs for the director of public teaching. “The trend is turning. Silence is broken. We're just beginning.”
Shaw also suggested that the Trump administration’s support could encourage more aggressive action in her school system.
“I asked this question at the next board meeting,” Shaw said. “We won't be compliant with insanity. We won't be bullied and silent. We won't betray our girls to please the radicals.”
Hernandez's mother, Nereyda Hernandez, could not reach it Monday, but had previously said it was heartbreaking to see her child get attacked “just because of her identity” despite complying with all California laws and policies.
She begged Trump to reconsider his efforts to expel trans girls from sports.
“My child is a trans student-athlete, a hardworking, disciplined, passionate young man who just wants to participate in sports, continue to build friendships and reach the best of his potential like any other child,” she said.
