A Biden-appointed federal judge just threw out the Trump Justice Department's lawsuit challenging California's policy of letting biological males compete in girls' school sports — and the reason why should infuriate every parent who thinks fairness means something.
US District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela didn't rule that forcing girls to compete against boys is required by Title IX. She didn't even rule that it's legal. She dismissed the case because she says the federal government didn't give California adequate notice that its $44.3 billion in federal education funding was on the line. In other words: the bureaucracy didn't cross its t's, so your daughters' opportunities get sacrificed.
The DOJ filed suit in July 2025, arguing that California's policy — in place since 2013 under AB 1266 — violates Title IX's prohibition on sex discrimination. The lawsuit was spearheaded by Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, and Bill Essayli, running the US attorney's office in Los Angeles. The department threatened to pull federal funding if California didn't change course.
Valenzuela, a Biden appointee, said that wasn't enough. She wrote that Title IX does not "clearly require" schools to exclude transgender girls from girls' teams, and therefore California lacked "clear notice" that keeping its policy would cost federal dollars. The Los Angeles Times reported that Valenzuela leaned heavily on the Supreme Court's June ruling upholding West Virginia and Idaho laws barring biological males from girls' teams — but used it to reach the opposite conclusion. The justices said states may maintain separate teams based on biological sex; Valenzuela took that to mean they aren't required to.
The Guardian framed the ruling as a "major victory for California and trans rights" and cast the lawsuit as an attack on a "small fraction" of students — noting that California estimated fewer than 10 trans student-athletes among its nearly 6 million K-12 students. What The Guardian buried: the real-world impact on female athletes. AB Hernandez, a biological male at Jurupa Valley High School, dominated multiple girls' events at the May 2026 CIF State Track and Field Championships. Athena Ryan, another biologically male athlete, took second in the girls' 1,600-meter race at section finals. Those are stolen podium spots — and potentially stolen scholarships.
The DOJ isn't backing down. A spokesperson said the department is "evaluating our options for appeal" and remains "committed to enforcing President Trump's agenda preventing boys from playing in girls' sports."
Meanwhile, the fight over who gets to decide what's best for children is escalating on another front. The Washington Examiner reported that the DOJ just sued a Kansas school district over policies that let staff create "Gender Plans" for students — covering pronouns, locker room access, and sports participation — without informing parents. The district's guidance says a student's request to exclude parents "will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis." The DOJ argues that violates federal privacy and parental rights laws. A related parental-rights case from Washington state is headed to the Supreme Court this fall.
The pattern is clear: schools and courts are making end-runs around parents and basic biology alike. Valenzuela's ruling doesn't settle whether Title IX permits biological males on girls' teams — it just says the federal government didn't jump through the right procedural hoops to stop it. The question now is whether the Trump administration can thread that needle on appeal — or whether it will take Congress rewriting the law to force the courts to acknowledge what every parent already knows.
