Education Secretary Linda McMahon rejected California’s reintroduced policy for trans-identifying biological male athletes in girls’ sports, taking direct aim at both the state’s “shared podium” policy and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s public posture on the issue.
McMahon spoke with OutKick on Monday as the Department of Education continued to recognize June as “Title IX Month,” which the Trump administration is using to highlight its effort to restore sex-based protections in schools and athletics.
The secretary said the administration views Title IX as a protection for female athletes, not as a law that requires girls to compete against biological males.
“I think the president has made it crystal clear as to what he expects Title IX to be,” McMahon said. “That is the way it was originally drafted and is expected to be: girls are in girls’ sports and boys are in boys’ sports.”
The debate has also put renewed pressure on Newsom, who said in March 2025 that it was “deeply unfair” for males to compete in women’s sports but has not pushed California to reverse its policy allowing athletes to compete based on gender identity.
Asked what message she would send to Newsom, McMahon said the California governor cannot keep trying to straddle both sides of the issue.
“I think he needs to stick to one plan or the other,” McMahon said. “On the one hand, when he’s being interviewed, he’ll say that it’s totally unfair and men should not compete in women’s sports, and yet he does nothing about it in the state of California to make that stick. And so, he needs to pick a side and stick to it. He can’t have a foot in both camps.”
McMahon said Title IX was created to give women athletic opportunities they had long been denied.
“Title IX first came along to give women the opportunity to play in sports because they were shielded from it or prevented from going into sports,” McMahon said. “So Title IX really made sports accessible to all women and now that right is being infringed on by boys who are electing to be girls and I just don’t think that’s correct.”
Title IX, part of the Education Amendments of 1972, prohibits sex discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal funding and has long been applied to athletic opportunity.
The Title IX fight has become especially prominent in California, where AB Hernandez, a biological male who identifies as a girl, competed in the girls’ division at the California state track and field championships over the weekend.
INSIDE THE LAST DANCE OF AB HERNANDEZ
Hernandez finished first in the girls’ high jump and triple jump, received first-place medals in both events and placed third in the long jump.
Amid backlash, the California Interscholastic Federation reintroduced a pilot policy allowing additional girls to receive podium spots or medals in events where they were displaced by a biological male athlete. OutKick asked McMahon whether she viewed that as a workable compromise.
“I don’t think it’s the right kind of compromise,” McMahon said. “I still believe that men should compete in men’s sports and women should compete in women’s sports, and they don’t have to share a podium. It is the winner of the event who earns the prize. And women should not have to compete against men.”
The federal government has already escalated its fight with California over the issue. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found in June 2025 that the California Department of Education and CIF violated Title IX, and the Justice Department sued California the following month.
The secretary also said Democrats have largely refused to confront what she views as the obvious consequences of those policies.
“I just think it’s another instance of a lot of Democrats who just don’t want to look at what the realities are and the fact that this administration is clearly making it known through the president’s executive order that men should not compete in women’s sports,” McMahon said.
McMahon said the issue extends beyond competition and into female-only spaces, including locker rooms, travel and lodging.
“It’s not just competing, it is also sharing their locker room facilities, et cetera, and traveling in buses and being in hotel rooms and all of those things,” McMahon said. “And it just puts women in a very awkward position.”
McMahon also pointed to a recent school dispute over locker room access, criticizing the idea that girls should be the ones required to adjust when they are uncomfortable sharing intimate spaces with biological males.
“In fact, there was one school over the weekend that just said, well, if women are uncomfortable in that situation, they just need to find another place to change,” McMahon said. “And I don’t think that’s the way it ought to be. Women have their private and intimate facilities and men do as well. They should be respected.”
McMahon pointed to the Department of Education’s resolution with the University of Pennsylvania over Lia Thomas as a model for how institutions can address past violations.
Penn agreed to apologize to female swimmers impacted by Thomas’ participation on the women’s team and restore records and titles to female athletes.
“One of the settlements that the Department of Education had was with the University of Pennsylvania, in which they actually apologized to the female athletes who had lost to males,” McMahon said. “And that was a big deal.”
Asked what other organizations or institutions she would like to see reach similar resolutions, McMahon said the department is looking across the country.
“Any one of them who are breaking these rules, that’s where we would like to see it,” McMahon said. “And that’s why we filed some Title IX cases throughout the country and are hoping to get those same kinds of resolutions made.”
McMahon said Penn drew national attention because of Riley Gaines, who has become one of the most prominent advocates for protecting women’s sports after competing against Thomas in college swimming.
“Penn was clearly in the limelight for so long because of Riley Gaines,” McMahon said. “And she’s really been a stalwart for this. So that’s why I’m really hoping that we’ll see more schools step up to the plate on this.”
McMahon said the department’s focus this month is making sure schools understand the administration’s view that Title IX requires sex-based protections in sports and private spaces.
“I think that this administration is rightfully celebrating Title IX,” McMahon said. “And I really hope that colleges, universities, schools, and everywhere around the country will continue to celebrate this and to be respectful of it.”
