The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)’s decision to disregard President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports has sparked significant backlash across the state. On Friday, demonstrators convened in Long Beach, California, to voice their concerns outside a CIF board meeting. During the meeting, protesters urged CIF officials to adhere to the president’s directive. Some even threatened civil lawsuits against the CIF and the state if they continued to resist compliance with Trump’s order. Currently, there is an ongoing lawsuit against the CIF and California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, related to a case involving a transgender athlete on the girls’ cross-country team at Martin Luther King High School.
Julianne Fleischer, a Legal Counsel at Advocates for Faith & Freedom, warned at the event, “There will be more lawsuits to follow if the CIF does not follow federal law. It is crucial for CIF to understand that failing to enforce federal law across school districts will lead to accountability and significant litigation costs.”
Trump’s executive order stipulates that any school receiving federal funding that permits biological males to compete in the girls’ or women’s categories risks losing that funding. California public schools receive approximately $16.8 billion annually, which constitutes about 13.9% of public school funding, significantly exceeding the national average. Many protesters emphasized the potential repercussions of losing this federal funding. A school district employee also attended the protest, urging the CIF to comply with Trump’s order. Sonja Shaw, President of the Chino Valley Unified School Board, expressed her dismay as a mother, calling the CIF’s stance “shameful.” She criticized CIF leadership for promoting policies that she deemed inappropriate, stating, “If you’re part of that, you’re disgusting, and you need to step out of here.”
In California, the law known as AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, granting students at both scholastic and collegiate levels the right to participate in sex-segregated programs and activities, including athletics, in accordance with their gender identity, regardless of the gender listed in their records. The California Code of Regulations defines gender as encompassing a person’s actual or perceived sex, including their identity, appearance, or behavior, irrespective of traditional associations with their sex at birth. CIF Bylaw 300.D aligns with the Education Code, affirming that all students should have the opportunity to participate in these programs.