by Ben Whedon
A federal judge has dismissed a Justice Department suit against California over its policies on transgender participation in sports.
The Department of Justice took exception to California’s policy requiring schools to allow students to participate in athletics on the basis of their gender identity.
In U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela ruling Monday, granted California’s motion to dismiss, saying that the state and several co-defendants lacked proper notice that they risked the loss of federal funding over the matter.
Valenzuela did not address the government’s contention that Title IX requires schools to protect equal access to sports on the basis of biological sex.
“The Court need not resolve that question. Even assuming Title IX requires what Plaintiff contends, CDE lacked clear notice of that requirement as a condition of federal funding. The Spending Clause therefore bars Plaintiff from enforcing the asserted funding condition in this action,” the ruling said.
California’s Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation were both defendants in the suit.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
