Once hailed as a champion for transgender rights, California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently flipped sides — voicing support for a ban on boys competing in girls’ sports.
“I think it’s an issue of fairness,” Newsom told guest Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA on his new podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom. “I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness. It’s deeply unfair. I’m not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”
The governor’s 180 surprised his allies, including trustees of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), the state-sanctioned body that governs high school athletics.
Just weeks earlier, CIF had taken a bold stance, declaring it would defy a federal executive order banning biological males from participating in girls’ sports. CIF cited California state law in defending its position.
Now, CIF finds itself running a different playbook than the governor, leaving the agency at odds not just with federal policy but with the governor himself.
President Trump’s February 5 Executive Order, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, is designed to protect the fairness and safety of female athletes. Until Trump’s order, many women have increasingly found themselves competing against biological men who identify as women. To underscore his seriousness on the issue during his recent congressional speech, Trump introduced a former North Carolina high school volleyball player who says she was severely injured by a transgender player in 2022.
Trump’s order bans federal funding of schools that allow boys — including those who identify as girls – to compete on girls’ teams.
In opposing the president, CIF says it is following state law. “The CIF provides students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete in education-based experiences in compliance with California law [Education Code section 221.5. (f)] which permits students to participate in school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, consistent with the student’s gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records,” the agency said in a statement emailed to the California Policy Center.
CIF’s declaration was met with an immediate response from the federal Department of Education. Announcing that it would investigate CIF’s compliance with federal law, the Department of Education said, “State laws do not override federal anti-discrimination laws, and these entities and their member schools remain subject to Title IX and its implementing regulations.”
California attorney Erin Friday says it’s not enough for CIF to say that it’s following state law – because state Education Code 33354 requires that CIF also follow federal law. CIF’s refusal to comply with Trump’s federal order directly violates that code.
“CIF is in violation of federal law,” said Friday, who is president of Our Duty, a parent-led organization that advocates for child safety in schools. “The [federal] Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights is gunning for California. They’ve made it very clear that their focus is going to be on states that are violating both federal law and then the executive order by Donald Trump. So, I don’t think for a second that the Department of Ed or OCR is going to be afraid to pull federal dollars out of California.”
Friday calculates that California could lose up to $13 billion, a hefty sum for a state already facing a budget crisis.
Not everyone is convinced that Newsom’s transition on the issue of trans athletes represents real change.
“He’s done nothing to protect girls’ sports,” said California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey.” If he really thought it was about fairness, he would have called out CIF directly the day they said they weren’t following Trump’s executive order.”
A former collegiate athlete herself, Lorey believes most Americans are ready to end the chaos in women’s sports. But entities like CIF are resisting change.
“CIF isn’t being bold enough or brave enough to protect girls’ sports,” she said. “The adults in the room are sitting back and doing nothing.”
While CIF faces federal scrutiny, state lawmakers are also moving forward with legislation that could reshape the sports landscape. Friday and other California state legislators are looking to pass bills that prioritize women and their safety. Assembly Bill 89 would require CIF to change its policy, prohibiting biological males from playing on girls sport’s teams in high school, regardless of their gender identity.
A second proposal, Assembly Bill 844, takes things a step further. Unlike AB 89, which focuses specifically on interscholastic athletics and CIF policy, AB 844 applies to all sex-segregated school activities and facilities. It mandates that students be placed in sex-segregated programs, activities, restrooms, and locker rooms based strictly on biological sex, not gender identity.
As the federal government and California’s Interscholastic Federation (CIF) clash over who gets to define fairness in school sports, the real losers may be the very students Title IX was meant to protect.
“I want us to think about what is fair,” said Kelly Anderson, a swim coach at Orange Lutheran in Southern California. “I’d like [CIF officials] to review their history books a little bit and remember that we fought to have girls have their own safe space and their sports to play in — and now we’re going backward.”
Francis Mizner is a senior at Pennsylvania State University and a research fellow at the California Policy Center.