A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that challenged California for allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ school sports teams — one of many Title IX probes under the Trump administration.
U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela dismissed the Justice Department’s case against the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation, the latter of which governs high-school athletics in the state.
California permits students to participate in athletic teams and in competitions that match their gender, regardless of what gender is listed on their records. However, the DOJ alleged that policies from both the education department and CIF violate Title IX and discriminate against girls in sports in a complaint
filed in July 2025.
The filing came more than a month after President Donald Trump warned he’d cut federal funding to the state if it didn’t follow an executive order that targets transgender women and girls participating in women’s sports. It also came amid a national, political firestorm surrounding a transgender teenage athlete competing in a track and field competition in Southern California.
The DOJ argued that Title IX requires schools receiving federal funds to use biological sex to determine eligibility for girls’ sports, according to Valenzuela in an Aug. 31 ruling. The district judge said the court didn’t need to resolve that matter; Assuming Title IX does require that, California’s education department “lacked clear notice of that requirement as a condition of federal funding.”
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that states can ban transgender women and girls from competing on women and girls’ sports teams.
Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at pbarraza@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOJ sued California over transgender girl athletes. Judge dismissed it
