Federal officials have launched an investigation into the California Community College Athletic Assn. and four other state colleges and school districts, alleging that their policies allowing sports participation based on gender identity violate the civil rights of female athletes, U.S. Education Department officials announced this week.
The investigations — which target 18 school districts and colleges nationwide — widen the Trump administration’s drive to end the participation of transgender athletes in women’s and girls’ sports.
The announcements came the same week that a majority of Supreme Court justices appeared ready to uphold the laws of two states that forbid transgender athletes from competition. But it wasn’t clear that they would stand in the way of states that chose instead to base participation on gender identity.
California requires K-12 school districts to base sports participation on gender identity and not an individual’s biological sex at birth.
In addition to the Community College Athletic Assn., — a league of 108 community college athletic programs in the state — the Department of Education also named the Jurupa Unified School District, the Placentia-Yorba Linda School District, Santa Monica College and Santa Rosa Junior College among the 18 targets nationwide.
The investigations were launched based on complaints submitted to the federal Office for Civil Rights, which is part of the department. The federal authorities allege that the schools and the association have violated Title IX, the department said in a statement. Title IX is a 1972 federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program or activity that receives federal funding.
The complaints asserted that the schools “maintain policies or practices that discriminate on the basis of sex by permitting students to participate in sports based on their ‘gender identity,’ not biological sex. These policies jeopardize both the safety and the equal opportunities of women in educational programs and activities.” the statement said.
Lorely Meza, a spokesperson for the Placentia-Yorba Linda School District, said in an emailed statement that the district received notice of a “review and data request” from the Department of Education on Wednesday.
“The complaint alleges that the district school board allowed biological males to compete in female sports,” Meza said, adding “it is important to note” that the district does “not have have any biological male students competing on female athletic teams.”
In May a school board member introduced a resolution to restrict participation of transgender athletes on female teams. Meza said the measure failed because “board resolutions cannot overrule state law.”
“Our priority has been to always provide safe, respectful and inclusive learning environments for all students while meeting our obligations under state and federal law,” Meza said.
At Santa Monica College, the investigation stems from a campus-wide letter from Supt. Kathryn E. Jeffery condemning President Trump’s executive order nearly a year ago: “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” that prioritized Title IX enforcement action, according to the Education Department’s letter to the college.
The bulletin, posted shortly after the February order, criticized the Trump administration’s “discriminatory policy.” Jeffery said that the order “targets a vulnerable community, sends a dangerous message that transgender people do not belong, and is part of a larger movement to undermine LGBTQ+ rights.”
“We are working on a response to OCR,” said Robert Meyers, a spokesperson from the Santa Monica College Federal Action Impact Analysis Team. “California law is clear on this issue, and we will continue to follow it. … Santa Monica College remains committed to standing strong as a beacon of equality and inclusivity for all students.”
The letter from the Education Department makes several data requests, including the rosters of women’s athletic programs in which a transgender woman participated, a list of formal or informal complaints made to the school and a narrative response to their investigation. Meyers said he is not aware of any transgender female athletes on women’s teams.
The college said it abides by California Community College Athletic Assn. regulations.
The California Community College Athletic Assn. said Thursday that it is aware of the investigation and “takes its obligations under Title IX seriously and is committed to providing equitable athletic opportunities for all student-athletes. The Association will fully cooperate with the review process.”
The other school districts and colleges could not be immediately reached for comment.
In the case of the Community College Athletic Assn., the department stated that it received a “staggering volume” of complaints, including one that detailed “discrimination against three female athletes … by allowing a male athlete to participate on the women’s volleyball team ” and ignored complaints from female athletes and allowed a transgender athlete access to locker facilities for women.
“Women’s sports are for women,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said in a statement referring to the community college investigation. “The Trump administration will not tolerate policies that erase women’s rights.”
The investigation targets a California Community College Athletic Assn. rule that allows transgender females and nonbinary students to participate on women’s community college sports teams if the students have completed “at least one calendar year of testosterone suppression.”