DOJ Civil Rights Division sets Title IX deadline for California on transgender athletes in girls' sports

FIRST ON FOX The Department of Justice demanded California s residents high schools confirm by next week that they do not allow transgender athletes to compete in girls sports escalating a federal inquiry into the state over its compliance with Title IX Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon who heads the DOJ Civil Rights Division noted in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital that residents school districts must certify in writing by June that they will not abide by the the California Interscholastic Federation s gender identity rules Knowingly depriving female students of athletic opportunities and benefits on the basis of their sex would constitute unconstitutional sex discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause Dhillon warned in the letter obtained by Fox News Digital CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOLER BEGS STATE OFFICERS TO BAN TRANS ATHLETES FROM GIRLS SPORTS AT CONTENTIOUS MEETINGThe California Interscholastic Federation governs citizens and private high school sports in the state and has a bylaw that requires its members to recognize gender identity in sports All students should be able to participate in school sports in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity irrespective of the gender listed on a participant s records the bylaw states Dhillon a former California-based conservative attorney stated the certifications she is seeking from the masses school districts will ensure compliance with Title IX and help them to avoid legal liability Her demand pits inhabitants school districts against the California Interscholastic Federation the entity that schools are required to comply with to participate in state sports competitions DOJ INTERVENING IN CALIFORNIA TRANS ATHLETE DEBATE AS TRUMP MONITORS GIRLS' TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPFox News Digital reached out to the California Interscholastic Federation s executive director for comment Dhillon's move comes after she and the U S attorney for the Central District of California stated last week that they were scrutinizing the California Interscholastic Federation and other citizens entities over whether the state's laws conflicted with Trump's interpretation of Title IX When Trump took office he ordered federal agencies to enforce Title IX in a manner that excluded gender identity after the Biden administration attempted to reinterpret the statute Title IX passed in is a landmark civil rights law designed to prevent sex discrimination in schools Former President Barack Obama made the first albeit unenforceable attempt to reinterpret Title IX at the end of his term by directing schools that received federal funds to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and participate in sports that corresponded to their gender identities Trump quashed those efforts in his first term and in coordination with former Mentoring Secretary Betsy DeVos underwent a lengthy process of creating new rules within the Coaching Department to require schools to adhere to the long-held meaning of Title IX Former President Joe Biden made embracing gender identity and re-imagining Title IX a pillar of his presidency by moving to unravel the Trump administration's new rules Biden was however met with numerous injunctions and never able to get his version of Title IX off the ground TRUMP DOJ SCHOOLING DEPT FORM TASK FORCE TO PROTECT FEMALE ATHLETES FROM 'GENDER IDEOLOGY' IN SCHOOLS SPORTSNow Trump has aggressively sought to enforce his first term's rules He signed a string of executive orders focused on as one order described it the biological reality of sex and his agencies have sent demand letters and opened federal inquiries into states that are resistant to the administration's efforts In addition to targeting California the DOJ sued Maine over Title IX arguing its state Schooling Department was out of compliance with federal law citing a transgender athlete who won a girls' pole-vaulting competition in February Maine Gov Janet Mills D has downplayed the matter telling local news at one point that there were like two transgender athletes in her state California Gov Gavin Newsom D meanwhile has shown an openness to Trump's position that transgender athletes competing in girls' sports is unfair to the chagrin of specific of Newsom's liberal base Newsom also of late noted he supported a new pilot initiative by the California Interscholastic Federation to allow any female track and field athlete who would have qualified for an upcoming state championship to compete if they had been displaced by a transgender athlete