California Found To Be In Violation Of Title IX Amid Trans Athlete Absurdity, Riley Gaines Reacts
California being in violation of Title IX should come as a shock to no one.
California is in violation of Title IX. This news should come as no surprise given that transgender athletes have been competing in women's sports across the state, but the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has made the violation official.
The OCR announced on Wednesday that the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and the California Department of Education (CDE) were found to be in violation of Title IX.
While President Donald Trump signed a ‘No Men in Women’s Sports' executive order in February, multiple states, including California, have still allowed biological men to compete in women's sports.
The announcement regarding California's Title IX violation comes less than a month after transgender high school student athlete AB Hernandez won two California state titles in girls' track.

Transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley competes in the girls high jump during the CIF State Track and Field Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium on May 30, 2025 in Clovis, California. (Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
OutKick's Riley Gaines, a leader in the fight to keep women's sports exclusive to biological females, called California officially being deemed to be in violation of Title IX a victory for women and girls, while also applauding U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
"Today’s decision is a long-overdue victory for women and girls. California knowingly violated Title IX, and the Department of Education is right to hold them accountable," Gaines told OutKick.
"Restoring titles, records, and dignity to female athletes is just the beginning. I applaud Secretary McMahon and the Trump administration for standing up for women and girls everywhere. I hope more blue states are next."
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The Education Department said in its statement the CIF and the CDE will have 10 days to agree to the agency’s proposed resolution agreement.
"The CDE will issue a Notice to all recipients of federal funding (Recipients) that operate interscholastic athletic programs in California requiring them to comply with Title IX," the statement read. "This will specify that Title IX and its implementing regulations forbids schools from allowing males from participating in female sports and from occupying female intimate facilities, and that Recipients must adopt biology-based definitions of the words ‘male’ and ‘female.’
"The CDE and CIF will rescind any guidance that advised local school districts or CIF members to permit male athletes to participate in women’s and girls’ sports to reflect that Title IX preempts state law when state law conflicts with Title IX.
"The CDE will require each Recipient and CIF to submit to CDE an annual certification that the Recipient and CIF have complied with Title IX. Accordingly, CDE will also propose to OCR a Monitoring Plan to ensure that Recipients are fully complying with Title IX."

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
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Also mentioned in the Department of Education's statement was California Gov. Gavin Newsom. He admitted on his own podcast that transgender athletes competing in girls' and women's sports is "deeply unfair." However, it continued in his state.
"Although Governor Gavin Newsom admitted months ago it was ‘deeply unfair’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation continued as recently as a few weeks ago to allow men to steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions," said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
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The U.S. Department of Education and the Justice Department’s Title IX Special Investigations first started its probe into the CDE on April 4. The departments recently elevated Title IX investigations in the state of Minnesota over trans athlete policies.