The Trump administration’s push to bar biological males from competing in girls’ sports hit a setback in a California federal court on Monday, though the Justice Department signaled the legal fight is far from over.
U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela, a Democrat, threw out the DOJ’s challenge to California’s policy permitting transgender girls to participate on girls’ school sports teams, allowing the state’s disputed rules to remain in effect.
Still, the decision did not amount to a ruling that California’s transgender athlete policy is mandated under Title IX.
Rather, Valenzuela dismissed the lawsuit after finding that the federal government had failed to give California sufficient notice that its federal funding could be at risk if schools continued to allow transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams.
That means the broader legal clash over girls’ sports, transgender athletes and federal civil rights law remains unresolved for the Trump administration.
The Justice Department said Tuesday that it is weighing whether to appeal the ruling.
“We are disappointed by the Court’s order and remain committed to enforcing President Trump’s agenda of preventing boys from playing in girls’ sports.”
A DOJ spokesperson said the department is “evaluating our options for appeal.”
The DOJ lawsuit was spearheaded by two longtime critics of the state’s transgender-student policies: Harmeet Dhillon, the Trump administration’s Civil Rights Division chief, and Bill Essayli, who is currently leading the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
California has allowed transgender students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity since 2013 under AB 1266.
Republican lawmakers, the Alliance Defending Freedom, Concerned Women for America and other conservative advocates argue that allowing transgender girls to compete against biological females undermines the purpose of Title IX.
They say female athletes face an uneven playing field, safety concerns and the loss of opportunities, including athletic scholarships.
The California case is unfolding against a rapidly changing legal backdrop.
Just two months before Valenzuela’s ruling, the US Supreme Court’s conservative majority upheld Republican-backed laws in West Virginia and Idaho that bar transgender girls from girls’ teams.
Valenzuela emphasized that the Supreme Court’s ruling was narrow.
The justices allowed those states to maintain their restrictions but did not order every school in the country to adopt the same policy.
The Supreme Court also did not establish a nationwide ban on transgender youth competing in sports or settle whether Title IX permits transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams.
Meanwhile, the California controversy has thrust individual high school athletes into the middle of the fight over girls’ athletics.
AB Hernandez, a transgender student-athlete at Jurupa Valley High School, dominated several girls’ events during the May 2026 CIF State Track and Field Championships and section finals.
Athena Ryan of Sonoma Academy finished second in the girls’ 1,600-meter race at the CIF North Coast Section finals in Santa Rosa in 2023 before withdrawing from the state finals amid protests.
Lorelei Barrett of the Buckley School qualified for the girls’ 1,600-meter state championship after competing at the CIF Southern Section prelims in Los Angeles, but withdrew amid intense backlash.
