Latest news with #CIFBylaw300.D.
Fox News
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
California residents protest, threaten lawsuits over state's refusal to follow Trump's trans athletes ban
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)'s refusal to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order banning trans athletes from girls' and women's sports has prompted outrage within the state. On Friday, residents gathered in Long Beach, California, to protest outside of a CIF federated board meeting. The protesters then spoke at the board meeting, pleading with the CIF officials to follow the president's order. Protesters even threatened civil lawsuits against the CIF and state in case they continue to refuse compliance with Trump. Currently, there is one lawsuit against the CIF and the state's attorney general, Rob Bonta, over a situation at Martin Luther King High School involving a trans athlete on the girls' cross-country team. "There will be more lawsuits to follow if the CIF does not follow federal law," said Julianne Fleischer, a Legal Counsel at Advocates for Faith & Freedom, at the event. "I want CIF to know that it is important you follow federal law or you will be held accountable for failing to enforce federal law throughout the school districts … with more lawsuits they're going to spend significant funds on litigation." Trump's executive order states that any school receiving federal funding that allows biological males to compete in the girls' or women's category will lose that federal funding. According to USA Facts, California public schools receive about $16.8 billion per year, which is 13.9% or one in every seven dollars of public school funding, which is well above the national average. Many of the protesters there made it a point to warn the state of the consequences of losing that federal funding. A California school district employee showed up at the protest to plead with the CIF to follow Trump's order. Sonja Shaw, Chino Valley Unified School Board President, spoke from her perspective as a mother and became visibly emotional when she scolded the CIF for its decision, calling it "shameful." "Whoever is in CIF at the top level putting out those woke weird toolkit on telling boys about how to compete against girls, if you're a part of that, you're disgusting, and you need to step out of here," Shaw said. In California, a law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, giving California students at the scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records." California Code of Regulations section 4910(k) defines gender as, "A person's actual sex or perceived sex includes a person's perceived identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with a person's sex at birth."CIF Bylaw 300.D. mirrors the Education Code, stating, "All students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student's records." These laws and the subsequent enabling of trans athletes to compete with girls and women in the state have resulted in multiple controversies over the issue in the last year alone. At Martin Luther King High School, the father of a girl who lost her varsity spot to the trans cross-country athlete previously told Fox News Digital that his daughter and other girls at the school had been told that "transgenders have more rights than cisgender[s]" by school administrators when they protested the athlete's participation. That father, longtime firefighter Ryan Starling, showed up at the protests and board meeting on Friday and shared his daughter's story. "We're asking you guys today to be bold and be brave and stand up for our girls," Starling said. Starling also suggested that the CIF set up a category specifically for trans athletes, to avoid exclusion. "How about you make an open category? Start protecting our girls immediately so that everybody can still compete, but that everybody has their place," Starling said. Starling's family is a plaintiff in the current lawsuit against CIF and Bonta. The suit challenges AB 1266, which allows transgender athletes to compete against girls and women, claiming it is a Title IX violation. "Plaintiffs seek a federal ruling that AB 1266 violates Title IX as well as a decision holding the District accountable for violating their First Amendment rights. They demand injunctive relief to stop schools from forcing biological girls to compete with and against males, a judgment affirming sex-based protections in athletics and compensation for damages caused by these discriminatory policies," an Advocates for Faith & Freedom spokesperson said. The issue of trans athletes competing with girls and women has caused other controversies within the state in recent months. Stone Ridge Christian High School's girls' volleyball team was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament but forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete on the team. A transgender volleyball player was booed and harassed at an Oct. 12 match between Notre Dame Belmont in Belmont, California, and Half Moon Bay High School, according to ABC 7. Half Moon Bay rostered the transgender athlete. California State Assembly member Kate Sanchez announced on Jan. 7 that she is introducing a bill to ban trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports. Sanchez will propose the Protect Girls' Sports Act to the state legislature. Currently, 25 states have similar laws in effect. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Fox News
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
California plans to continue allowing trans athletes to compete in girls' sports despite Trump executive order
The State of California and its public school athletics association has indicated it will not fall in line with President Donald Trump's latest executive order to keep trans athletes out of girls' and women's sports. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow the state's law that allows athletes to participate as whichever gender they identify as, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey told Fox News Digital that her state's intent to defy Trump's executive order has made her feel "disgusted." "I am disgusted that CIF is disregarding yesterday's executive order and instead doubling down on policies that are not only unfair, but dangerous for young women across California. By prioritizing their idol of transgender ideology over the safety and rights of female athletes, they are knowingly exposing high school girls to unsafe competition and stripping them of opportunities guaranteed for them under Title IX," Lorey told Fox News Digital. "One day, the CIF board will look back and realize they chose to be on the wrong side of history. They will have to answer for why they sacrificed the safety, fairness, and dignity of young girls to bow to an ideological agenda. But the rest of us will not stand by while female athletes are illegally prevented from competing fairly in their own sports." The NCAA announced Thursday that it has amended its policy on gender eligibility so that biological males are no longer allowed to compete in the women's category in response to Trump's order. However, at the youth and high school level, girls may still be at the mercy of state law. In California, a law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to "participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil's records." California Code of Regulations section 4910(k) defines gender as, "A person's actual sex or perceived sex and includes a person's perceived identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with a person's sex at birth."CIF Bylaw 300.D. mirrors the Education Code, stating, "All students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student's records." These laws and the subsequent enabling of trans athletes to compete with girls and women in the state has resulted in multiple controversies over the issue over the last year alone. Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, is currently embroiled in one of the most contentious local controversies on the issue. A recent school board meeting by the Riverside Unified School District on Dec. 19 featured a parade of parents berating the board for allowing a trans athlete on the Martin Luther King girls' cross-country team. A lawsuit filed by two girls on the team alleges that their T-shirts in protest of that player were compared to swastikas simply because they said "Save Girls Sports." The father of a girl who lost her varsity spot to the trans athlete previously told Fox News Digital that his daughter and other girls at the school were told "transgenders have more rights than cisgender[s]" by school administrators when they protested the athlete's participation. Stone Ridge Christian High School's girls' volleyball team was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament but forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete on the team. A transgender volleyball player was booed and harassed at an Oct. 12 match between Notre Dame Belmont in Belmont, California, against Half Moon Bay High School, according to ABC 7. Half Moon Bay rostered the transgender athlete. California State Assembly member Kate Sanchez announced on Jan. 7 that she is introducing a bill to ban trans athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports. Sanchez will propose the Protect Girls' Sports Act to the state legislature. Currently, 25 states have similar laws in effect. "Young women who have spent years training and sacrificing to compete at the highest level are now forced to compete against individuals with undeniable biological advantages. It's not just unfair – it's disheartening and dangerous," Sanchez said in a statement announcing the bill. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
