The California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) have refused to comply with the Trump administration’s demand that the state ban transgender women and girls from participating in school sports that align with their gender identity.

In a communication dated July 6, California Department of Education (CDE) general counsel Len Garfinkel wrote that the agency “respectfully disagrees with” the findings of an investigation by the U.S. Office of Civil Rights (OCR) which found that the state was in violation of federal law by allowing trans student athletes to compete against and alongside cisgender women and girls.

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Garfinkel wrote that the CDE would not sign a proposed resolution agreement mandated by the OCR. As the L.A. Times reported, the proposed resolution would have required the state to notify all federally funded schools that they must ban trans women and girls from women’s and girls’ sports programs in compliance with the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in education.

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In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at blocking federal funding for schools that allow trans girls and women to compete on girls’ and women’s sports teams. His order directed the Department of Justice to prosecute schools that allow trans sports participation. Trump also signed another executive order rescinding the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX. President Joe Biden’s position was that Title IX prohibited anti-trans school policies as a form of sex-based discrimination, since it’s impossible to discriminate against transgender students without taking their sex into account.

That same month, Trump’s OCR launched an investigation into the CIF after it announced it would adhere to state antidiscrimination rules allowing transgender student-athletes to participate in school sports that align with their gender identity. As the L.A. Times notes, the investigation later expanded to include the CDE and local school districts.

The OCR released the findings of its investigation on June 25, giving California 10 days to sign its proposed resolution agreement or face unspecified “imminent enforcement action.”

On Monday, the office of the General Counsel for the CIF also rejected the OCR’s findings and refused to sign the proposed resolution agreement.

The OCR’s June 25 announcement cited the Supreme Court’s recent ruling upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care, as well as California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) own comments expressing doubt about the “fairness” of transgender athletes participating in women’s and girls’ sports.

In a July 7 X post responding to the CDE and CIF’s refusal to comply with the Trump administration’s anti-trans order, Education Secretary Linda McMahon seemed to reference Newsom’s comments.

“California has just REJECTED our resolution agreement to follow federal law and keep men out of women’s sports,” McMahon wrote. “Turns out Gov. Newsom’s acknowledgment that ‘it’s an issue of fairness’ was empty political grandstanding.”

McMahon added that Newsom would be hearing from Attorney General Pam Bondi.

As Shannon Minter, legal director of the San Francisco-based National Center for LGBTQ Rights, told The Sacramento Bee this week, the conflict could lead to a court battle over whether federal law prevents states from enacting laws that protect trans students.

“This administration is targeting California in an attempt to intimidate it into backing away from its strong anti-discrimination laws,” Minter told the paper. “I’m encouraged to see the California Department of Education is standing up to that.”

As the L.A. Times notes, California is one of nearly two dozen states with laws allowing trans students to participate in sports that align with their gender identity. Meanwhile, according to the Movement Advancement Project, 27 states have enacted laws banning trans women and girls from women’s and girls’ sports.

Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases that are likely to determine whether such laws violate the Constitution.

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