By Vanguard Staff
OAKLAND, CA – June 10, 2025
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a pre-enforcement lawsuit Monday against the U.S. Department of Justice in response to what he called unconstitutional and unlawful threats from the Trump Administration targeting transgender students in public schools.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, comes after the DOJ sent a June 2 letter to every local educational agency (LEA) in California demanding that they certify—by June 9—that they would not implement California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Bylaw 300.D. The bylaw, consistent with California Education Code section 221.5(f), allows K-12 students to participate in school sports teams in alignment with their gender identity.
Bonta’s lawsuit argues that the DOJ’s letter, signed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, unlawfully threatens school districts with unspecified legal liability and the potential loss of federal funds if they continue complying with California’s anti-discrimination laws.
“The President and his Administration are demanding that California school districts break the law and violate the Constitution—or face legal retaliation,” Bonta said in a statement. “They’re demanding that our schools discriminate against the students in their care and deny their constitutionally protected rights.”
The complaint states that California’s laws—on the books for over a decade—do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, contrary to the DOJ’s claim. Instead, Bonta argues, policies like Bylaw 300.D promote inclusion and protect transgender students from exclusion, harassment, and psychological harm.
According to the complaint, over one million K-12 students in California participate in school sports each year, including a small number of transgender students. Denying transgender students access to school teams that align with their gender identity, Bonta warns, would cause immediate and irreparable harm.
“Allowing transgender students to participate in athletics consistent with their gender identity is not only consistent with the Constitution—it is necessary to prevent serious harm to students and ensure equal educational opportunity,” the lawsuit states.
Citing precedent from the Ninth Circuit and other courts, the state argues that categorical bans on transgender girls participating in girls’ sports have repeatedly been struck down as unconstitutional. The complaint also outlines how such bans are linked to increased suicide risk and worsened mental health outcomes among transgender youth.
The lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to block the DOJ from enforcing its demands, prevent future threats to school districts, and affirm that California’s policies are lawful.
The Trump Administration has recently escalated its attacks on transgender rights through a series of executive orders. A January 2025 order declared transgender identity “false,” and a February order sought to bar transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports nationwide. Statements from President Trump and DOJ officials, cited in the lawsuit, include inflammatory rhetoric that plaintiffs allege demonstrates animus toward transgender individuals.
“This legal challenge is not just about sports,” Bonta added. “It’s about whether the federal government can bully states into abandoning civil rights protections that are grounded in law, science, and compassion.”
