A Biden-appointed federal judge has dismissed the Trump Justice Department’s lawsuit challenging California’s policy allowing transgender-identifying biological males to compete on girls’ school sports teams.
U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela of the Central District of California dismissed the Justice Department’s case against the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) with prejudice, handing California officials a major victory in their ongoing battle with the Trump administration over women’s sports, the New York Post reported.
Valenzuela was nominated to the federal bench by Joe Biden and confirmed by the Democrat-controlled Senate in December 2024.
The Trump Justice Department filed the lawsuit in July 2025, accusing California education officials and the CIF of violating Title IX by allowing biological males who identify as female to compete against girls.
According to the DOJ complaint, California’s policies deprive female athletes of equal athletic opportunities by forcing them to compete against biological males for victories, podium placements, recognition, and potentially college opportunities.
But Valenzuela rejected the administration’s argument.
The Biden judge concluded that California had not received sufficiently clear notice that federal education funding was conditioned on excluding transgender-identifying biological males from girls’ athletic teams.
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