California Risks Federal Actions Over Transgender Athletes in Women’s Sports

The U.S. Department of Education has found California in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws for allowing male athletes to compete in women’s sports. The finding on June 25 follows investigations launched earlier this year into both the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which is the governing body for high school sports in the state, and the California Department of Education. The inquiries, opened in February and April, focused on whether California’s School Success and Opportunity Act conflicts with Title IX, the law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education programs that receive federal dollars. The California law, in effect since 2014, allows students to participate in sports programs and use sex-segregated bathrooms and locker rooms based on their preferred gender identity rather than biological sex....