California lawmakers reject bills to ban trans athletes’ participation in girls sports

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers won’t change state policies allowing transgender kids and teens to play on sports teams consistent with their gender identities amid heated nationwide debates over the participation of trans youth in athletics.

Democratic lawmakers on the state Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism rejected two proposals by Republican lawmakers on Tuesday after hours of impassioned debate and commentary.

One bill would have required the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports, to adopt rules banning students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team. The other would have reversed a 2013 law allowing students to participate in sex-segregated school programs, including on sports teams, and use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity. It would have applied to K-12 and college students.

The hearing came a day after Transgender Day of Visibility, and weeks after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom angered his political allies when he suggested on his podcast it’s unfair for transgender athletes to participate in girls sports.

Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward, the committee chair who leads the legislative LGBTQ+ caucus, said the bills were part of a broader attack on the rights of transgender youth. He said they could also be invasive to cisgender girls who might be asked to prove their sex.

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“I don’t think anybody should be gender policing women and girls,” Ward said.

But Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli, who authored the bill to reverse the 2013 law, said the proposal was about fairness.

“Biology matters,” he said. “Sports are one of the places where that reality is most obvious.”

Taylor Starling, a student-athlete in Riverside who says a trans runner took her spot on her high school’s varsity cross country team, said a ban would help ensure female athletes are treated fairly.

“Why are girls being told that we must sit down and be quiet while boys unfairly get ahead of us in life?” she said.

But LGBTQ+ advocates and parents of transgender children urged lawmakers to support trans kids — in sports and beyond.

Cati Johnson, a parent of a transgender girl in middle school, said it was important to defend the rights and protections of trans kids, such as the ability to use a restroom that aligns with their gender identity.

“The facilities ban really sends the message that she is not welcome as her authentic self,” Johnson said of her daughter. “And that’s just not OK.”

There are more than 49,000 trans youth aged 13 to 17 in California, according to an estimate from the Williams Institute, a group at the UCLA School of Law that researches LGBTQ+ issues.

“While we know of a few high-profile stories of trans girls who play on teams, we are not seeing evidence that their participation is unfair or harmful,” said Elana Redfield, the group’s federal policy director. “Mostly, these laws appear to be motivated by anti-transgender bias.”

At least 24 states have laws on the books barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain women’s or girls sports competitions. Judges have temporarily blocked bans in Arizona, Idaho and Utah. In New Hampshire and West Virginia, students who sued those states over bans were allowed to compete. At the federal level, President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month aimed at barring transgender athletes from participating in girls and women’s sports.

Some states have also imposed bans on gender-affirming care and required schools to share students’ gender identity with parents without the students’ consent.

Essayli and other proponents of the proposals referred multiple times to Newsom’s comments. The governor later told The Los Angeles Times he had deliberated on the issue for years, and he stuck by his comments.

“I know that hurt a lot of people. But respectfully, I just disagree with those on the other side of this,” he said.

Newsom has not directly called for a reversal of existing state law and won’t have to weigh in after the bills died.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent Newsom a letter last week, saying his remarks on his podcast caught her attention and requesting he clarify his stance.

“Take a stand on your convictions,” she wrote. “Be clear about the harms of gender confusion. Protect female spaces. Do not encourage children to seek permanent medical interventions to their sex. Inform parents.”

The U.S. Department of Education also announced an investigation last week into the state education department over a law banning school districts from requiring teachers and staff to notify parents if a student changes their gender identity at school.

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Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna