California School Board Votes On Ban Amid States Lawsuit With Trump

In a bold and potentially precedent-setting move, the Kern County Board of Education in California voted Tuesday to defy state policy and bar biological males from competing in girls’ sports—directly aligning itself with federal Title IX interpretations championed by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The vote marks the first time a public school board in California has openly sided with the Trump administration’s stance over the state’s, drawing a clear line in a legal and cultural battle that has been simmering for years but has erupted into full view in 2025.

This decision follows Trump’s executive order issued in February, which reasserts the federal government’s interpretation of Title IX as protecting sex-based categories in school athletics—namely, separating girls’ and boys’ competitions based on biological sex, not gender identity. California, which first enacted policies in 2013 allowing trans athletes to compete based on gender identity, was among the first states to defy that order.

That defiance led to multiple high-profile controversies during the 2025 school year, none more visible than the case of transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley High School, who competed for state titles in the girls’ track and field postseason. The incident triggered widespread backlash and ignited debate in local communities and school systems.

Now, one public school board has had enough.

The Kern County resolution declares the board’s intent to follow federal Title IX law, not California’s interpretation, stating that only biological females will be allowed to compete in girls’ sports across their district. That move comes after three top Christian schools—JSerra Catholic, Orange Lutheran, and Crean Lutheran—challenged the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) over its trans-inclusive policies earlier this year, citing violations of religious freedom and student fairness.

Those schools argued that CIF’s current gender identity policy places faith-based schools in a no-win scenario: uphold their religious teachings in the classroom while contradicting them on the athletic field.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, has offered a muddled response. While he acknowledged earlier this year that “it’s deeply unfair” for males to compete in girls’ sports, he’s declined to support any kind of ban and instead has attempted to frame the issue as a matter of compassion toward the transgender community. But even his own party has bristled at his vagueness, and his approval on this issue is slipping.

The Trump administration, however, isn’t backing down. The Department of Justice has launched lawsuits against California and Maine—where two school boards passed similar resolutions this spring—seeking injunctions against state laws that allow biological males to compete in girls’ sports and access female locker rooms.

The language in the DOJ’s lawsuit is clear and uncompromising:

“California’s policies eviscerate equal athletic opportunities for girls … The results are stark: girls are displaced from podiums, denied awards, and miss out on critical visibility for college scholarships and recognition.”

This isn’t just a culture war fight—it’s a legal one, and a nationwide one. Title IX was originally passed to protect equal opportunities for women in sports. Now, nearly 53 years later, it’s at the center of a firestorm over what constitutes fairness, equality, and biology in American schools.

And public opinion in California appears to be shifting.

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