DOJ sues California for alleged Title IX violations in women's sports

Federal prosecutors are suing the state of California for allegedly violating Title IX by allowing men to compete in women’s sports, according to a Wednesday statement from the Department of Justice. The state’s failure to enforce Title IX leaves female athletes vulnerable to unfair competition and reckless endangerment from male participation, the statement said. Title IX federally prohibits any sex-based discrimination within educational programs that receive federal funding. California Gov. Gavin Newsom previously acknowledged that forcing women and girls to compete against men and boys is deeply unfair, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the release.

The DOJ sued the California Department of Education and other bodies governing women’s sports within the state, Bondi said in a separate video statement. A California boy won over three dozen track and field medals competing against women, while he would have lost every race in his appropriate male division, Bondi said. She argued that the metals should be returned and insisted that athletes would only use locker rooms corresponding with their biological sex. Other states that don’t enforce Title IX protections will be sued next, she added.

Bondi appeared alongside Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, whose department started investigating California’s compliance with Title IX earlier this year. The DOE investigators reported in late June that the state was violating the federal statute. Education officials warned California that it would be sued if it did not start enforcing Title IX protections, so prosecutors did just that, McMahon said.

What is the state being charged with exactly? The filing accused both the California DOE and the California Interscholastic Federation of illegally discriminating on the basis of sex against female student athletes. State officials deprived girls of equal education and athletic opportunities guaranteed under federal civil rights laws, prosecutors argued. The DOJ is seeking declaratory, injunctive, and damages relief for the violations, according to the filing.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Russell’s report on a similar lawsuit prosecutors filed against Maine.