The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday the opening of investigations into 15 school districts and three colleges for allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports, escalating a campaign that the administration has pursued for nearly a year.
As reported by The Washington Post, the investigations target the nation’s largest public school system — New York City — as well as districts in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington state, and another in New York state.
Many states and the NCAA fell in line after the Trump administration began its drive to force transgender girls and women out of girls’ and women’s athletics, but some more liberal states have stuck with their policies, saying all students deserve the chance to participate, per the reporting of Laura Meckler and Lauren Lumpkin of the Post.
The Education Department's announcement came a day after the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether two states can ban athletes from competition in sports that align with their gender identity. These new probes address the opposite situation, enforcing the administration’s view that states and school districts may not permit such participation.
Related: At Hearings, Supreme Court Appears to Favor Greenlighting State Transgender Bans
"President Donald Trump and his administration argue that allowing transgender athletes to compete violates Title IX, the decades-old statute that bars federal funding for schools that discriminate on the basis of sex," wrote Meckler and Lumpkin. "Athletes who were assigned male at birth have physical advantages and therefore pose unfair competition and safety risks to other athletes in girls’ and women’s sports, the administration says."
Advocates for transgender rights say that Title IX compels the opposite policies, arguing that the law bars discrimination on the basis of gender identity, according to Meckler and Lumpkin.
“Every student, transgender or not, deserves the same respect, safety, and access to opportunities as their peers,” Mariah Moore, director of policy and programs at Transgender Law Center, said in a statement. “These investigations represent another attempt by the Department of Education to exploit Title IX against the students it is supposed to protect.”
Last year, Congress considered legislation to ban transgender girls and women from competing in female sports from elementary school through college. It passed the House but was blocked in the Senate. Even without a new law, though, the administration contends that allowing these athletes to compete violates federal law.
The Education Department said Wednesday that, in addition to New York City, it had opened investigations in Jurupa Unified School District and Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District in California; Waterbury Public Schools in Connecticut; the Hawaii State Department of Education, which runs the state’s single school district; Regional School units 19 and 57 in Maine; Foxborough Public Schools in Massachusetts; Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District in New York; Great Valley School District in Pennsylvania; Champlain Valley School District in Vermont; and Cheney Public Schools, Sultan School District No. 311, Tacoma Public Schools and Vancouver Public Schools in Washington state, the Post reported.
The department said it also had opened investigations into Santa Monica College and Santa Rosa Junior College in California and the University of Nevada at Reno.
A spokesperson for the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District said officials had been notified of the investigation.
“Our priority has always been to provide safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environments for all students while meeting our obligations under state and federal law,” spokesperson Lorely Meza said. “The district’s policies were adopted in good faith and are aligned with applicable law, and we will fully cooperate with all requests related to this matter.”
Robert M. Myers, campus counsel for Santa Monica College, said that the school “will continue to follow the guidance of the California Attorney General on the legal rights of transgender athletes to participate in sports,” Meckler and Lumpkin reported.
