McMahon presses Newsom over commitment to keep men out of women's sports

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, urging him to clarify his stance on transgender-identifying athletes in female sports and parental notification policies in California public schools. 

The letter follows Newsom’s recent remarks on his podcast in an interview with Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, where they discussed “fairness” on the topic of male athletes playing in women’s sports.

[RELATED: Charlie Kirk threatens legal action against UC Davis Chancellor for slander]

“Your recent comments about male athletes playing in women’s sports–that is ‘deeply unfair’-came to the attention of my office this week,” McMahon writes in her March 27 letter. 

While acknowledging Newsom’s recognition of the issue, McMahon expressed concern over his “silence” on the broader implications of substituting “gender identity” for biological sex in school settings. 

“Allowing participation in sex-separated activities based on ‘gender identity’ places schools at risk of Title IX violations and loss of federal funding,” McMahon says. “As Governor, you have a duty to inform California school districts of this risk.”

McMahon also urged Newsom to direct California public schools to comply with federal law by restoring sex-based categories in school programs and activities. She also asked the governor if he would commit to undoing various state laws like A.B. 1955, a bill he signed last year that prohibits schools from informing parents about their child’s “gender identity.”

McMahon questioned whether he would commit to eliminating a state provision that allows a “a pupil from enrolling in any class or course on the basis of the sex of the pupil.” The secretary suggested that the law would require girls to share rooms with boys who “identify” as girls during school trips.

McMahon also recommended that Newsom support A.B. 844, a bill that would “require that a student’s participation in sex-segregated athletic programs and activities and use of facilities, including bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, overnight accommodations, and student housing at a postsecondary institution be based upon the student’s sex.”

McMahon’s letter criticized California policies that prevent school staff from notifying parents when a student identifies as a different gender at school. She stressed such policies violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which is designed to protect parental access to student records. 

Her letter emphasized that schools have “a duty to notify parents” when a child exhibits this condition, adding that “school personnel have no business promoting the false notion that kids can choose or change their sex.” She also noted the importance of parents’ “fundamental rights to raise their own children.”

“As Secretary of Education, I am officially asking you to inform this Department whether you will remind schools in California to comply with federal law by protecting sex-separated spaces and activities,” McMahon concludes. “I am also officially asking you to publicly assure parents that California teachers will not facilitate the fantasy of ‘gender transitions’ for their children.”

Secretary McMahon is not the first Trump cabinet member to warn California officials about their state schools’ gender policies. 

[RELATED: PROF GARRETT: California’s reckless defiance of Title IX]

Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a February letter to California Interscholastic Federation Executive Director Ron Nocetti, urged the state’s governing body for high school sports to comply with federal orders to keep boys out of girls sports and follow the administration’s enforcement of Title IX, or face potential legal action from the Justice Department.

Campus Reform has contacted the Office of Governor Newsom for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.