California made a minor but potentially significant policy change to mitigate the damage done by allowing transgender-identifying males to compete in girls’ sports, in a possible attempt to placate President Donald Trump, who has recently turned his attention to the Golden state.
[RELATED: Most Maine Voters Back Trump Over Mills in Transgender Sports Spat…]
“Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to. The Governor, himself, said it is “UNFAIR.” I will speak to him today to find out which way he wants to go??? In the meantime I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation,” said President Trump on Tuesday.
Just hours after Trump issued his statement, threatening to pull federal funding from California if they refuse to comply with the Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports order, the state announced a policy change.
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) announced a new “pilot entry process” that will apply to the upcoming CIF State Track and Field Championships.
The program will allow girls who lost qualifying places for the upcoming championship because they were forced to compete against males with unfair physical advantages to enter a new, statewide competition.
“Under this pilot entry process, any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section’s automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet, was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships,” said the CIF.
The announcement acknowledges a distinction between biological females and transgender-identifying males and implicitly recognizes that males have an unfair advantage in women’s sports but does not remove those males from girls’ sports.
Despite their apparent efforts to support female athletes, the CIF will still allow males to compete, and likely win, in its championship competition.
“The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law and Education Code,” said the CIF.
This puts California in the strange position of recognizing the legitimacy of arguments against men in women’s sports, while nevertheless allowing the practice to continue.
California’s state government denied that the change came in response to Trump’s threats.
Regardless of the intent behind the change, it is unlikely to allay Trump’s scrutiny, as it is only a minor concession rather than the full policy change demanded by the federal government’s interpretation of anti-discrimination law.
While California appears to be making efforts to shy away from the extremely unpopular policy of allowing boys into girls’ sports, amid speculation that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) plans to run for president in 2028, Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) is staunchly maintaining her opposition to Trump’s policy.
Gov. Mills has taken legal action against the Trump administration in order to prevent a loss of federal funds as the president continues to threaten a loss of federal funding for Maine schools if the state does not change its policies on transgender-identifying athletes.
