California board of education president opens up on defying Newsom to keep trans athletes out of girls sports
The state has been a hotbed of controversy involving trans athletes competing in women's high school and college sports over the last year and a top target by President Donald Trump's administration for defying his mandate to enforce Title IX.
Kern County Board of Education President Mary Little told Fox News Digital her board's unanimous 6-0 resolution was in response to Newsom's 'illegal' defiance of federal law.
'We've talked about it on and off, especially since there's been a problem with how Gov. Newsom has been responding to the federal law,' Little said. 'He's not following the original intent of Title IX … so those laws are supposed to trump California laws, and we're supposed to obey those before we follow an illegal California law.'
Little said her school board has not received any pushback from the state government in regard to the new resolution.
6 Kern County Board of Education President Mary Little revealed her board's unanimous 6-0 resolution was in response to Newsom's 'illegal' defiance of federal law.
Fox News
Kern County Board of Education Trustee Lori Cisneros initially proposed the resolution to the board. Cisneros has been a teacher 28 years and works as an independent teacher who provides her services to charter schools.
'I believe it's necessary to do our duty to protect girls in sports, and I'm looking out for their safety and fairness,' Cisneros told Fox News Digital. 'I am not happy with the governor. He is not complying with federal law … and he is intentionally pushing to go against what Title IX is all about.
'I see it affecting families with girl athletes who are frustrated about having to compete against a biological male. And they're frustrated because biological males, naturally, are stronger, bigger and just different than how girls are designed.'
6 California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a rally in Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 2025.
REUTERS
6 Female spectators wear 'Protect Girls Sports' shirts during the CIF Southern Section D3 Track and Field meet at Nathan Shapell Memorial Stadium in Yorba Linda, Calif. on May 10, 2025.
Getty Images
6 Transgender student athlete AB Hernandez from Jurupa Valley High School leaves the stadium after competing in the triple jump at the California high school championships in Clovis, Calif. on May 30, 2025.
AP
The US Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Education (CDE) and California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) for its policies that continue to allow males to compete in girls sports across the state.
'(Newsom) is costing the taxpayers a lot of money by illegally thwarting the law,' Little said.
Kern said if she could send a message directly to Newsom, she would tell him, 'Follow the federal law and Title IX.'
Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom's office for a response.
US Education Secretary Linda McMahon praised Kern's recent resolution in a post on X Thursday.
'California's Kern County Board of Education made a courageous decision to defy their reckless Governor and take a stand for women and girls. I commend the Board members and hope other counties follow suit and protect women's sports,' McMahon wrote.
Multiple California schools and families were affected by incidents involving males competing in girls sports in the past school year alone.
One incident that caught Little's eye in particular was a situation at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, where a transgender student took a varsity spot from a female athlete on the girls cross-country team in the fall.
The female athlete who lost her spot, Taylor Starling, then filed a lawsuit against the Riverside Unified School District.
'That was unfortunate, in my opinion,' Little said. 'He's a biological male. He's not a female. He's running against girls and that's equitably unfair.'
6 A plane tows a protest banner over the California high school track and field championship meet on May 30, 2025.
Image of Sports/Newscom via ZUMA
Little said she believes parents have a 'constitutional right' to prevent their daughters from competing against males in girls sports and suggested that putting trans athletes in girls sports and locker rooms is a 'discriminatory practice.'
'It's just a fundamental constitutional right for parents to have children in sports without their students being subjected to discriminatory practices,' Little said. 'Males are males, and females are females.
'There's biological differences. A man is able to do more, faster and stronger.'
Little said eight speakers attended Tuesday's meeting to oppose the resolution and support trans inclusion in girls sports. Little said those speakers argued that the resolution was 'unfair.'
'That's their opinion. I welcome everybody's opinion, and I want to listen to it and make sure that I understand it,' Little said. 'And if we disagree, we disagree.'
Little is also urging other school boards to pass their own resolutions to comply with Title IX.
'Absolutely, why not?' she said when asked if she would urge other California school boards to follow her lead. 'Take a stand and protect the students, especially the girls in sports and other vulnerable areas like locker rooms.'
Newsom has previously said the CDE and CIF are following laws the state enacted in 2013 but has repeatedly said he believes males competing in girls sports is 'unfair.'
'I struggled with the issue of fairness when it came to sports,' Newsom said in response to the lawsuit at a July event. 'And we tried to figure that out a couple of years ago, and we were unsuccessful. And we struggled with that recently.
6 Parents protest transgender athletes during the CIF State Track and Field Championships.
Getty Images
'And my position is that I don't think it's fair, but I also think it's demeaning to talk down to people and to belittle the trans community. And I don't like the way the right wing talks about the trans community. These people just want to survive.'
A bipartisan survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found the majority of California residents oppose biological male trans athletes competing in women's sports.
That figure included more than 70% of the state's school parents.
'Most Californians support requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams matching the sex they were assigned at birth,' the poll stated.
'Solid majorities of adults (65%) and likely voters (64%) support requiring that transgender athletes compete on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth, not the gender they identify with. An overwhelming majority of public school parents (71%) support such a requirement.'
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