People who are fans of allowing men to compete in women's sports, thereby putting biological women at risk of physical harm and depriving them of their rightful spots on collegiate and Olympic teams among other harms, are pretty upset with the back-to-back-to-back losses their cause has seen since Donald Trump's re-election - and they're hitting back. Unsurprisingly, folks in California state government are spending their time looking for ways to subvert the common-sense and pro-women policies and related proposed legislation (H.R. 28) coming from this administration.
According to Ellen Cesaretti-Monroy, Senior Consultant to the California State Assembly's Committee on Higher Education, committee staff have found what they believe is a "loophole" in H.R. 28, The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. The bill upholds Title IX’s original intent by ensuring that biological males cannot compete in sports designated for women and girls in federally funded programs.
In addition, Cesaretti-Monroy implied that California's stance on Title IX-related issues going forward will be that the state can provide "additional protections" to LGBTQ++ students (meaning, take away protections from biological females) that aren't provided for in federal law or regulation and stated that she is already working with Attorney General Rob Bonta's office in that effort.
"Loophole" Found in H.R. 28
In this clip shared exclusively to RedState by an attendee at the Community College League of California Legislative Conference in late January, Cesaretti-Monroy talks about the "loophole" they've allegedly found in H.R. 28.
As part of their "Trump-proofing" plan, CA Assembly Committee on Higher Education Senior Consultant Ellen Cesaretti-Monroy tells attendees at the Community College League of CA leg conference that staff have identified what they think is a "loophole" in H.R. 28.
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) February 4, 2025
"Transgender… pic.twitter.com/wARvQiwWBj
She said:
Transgender athletes has become a big issue because of H.R 28 at the federal level. H.R. 28 says that students -- that for purposes of Title IX, if it passes, for athletics, that they will be required to participate in the sport of their biological sex determined at birth. We are currently looking for loopholes in that policy. We think we may have found one, but I don't want to put anything out there into the world until we know for sure that it not only protects students, but also doesn't create a situation where the law gets changed to close that loophole.
And we’re also really relying on the Sex Equity Act right now. We are examining it. We're looking at it from the perspective of, if this is the new law of the land. If the due process procedures at this federal level are never going away, how can we continue to provide protections to students? How can we continue to provide accommodations? How can we provide supportive measures?
It's telling -- but not surprising -- that immediately after stating that she believes staff found a loophole in H.R. 28, meaning that they are actively working to keep biological men in women's sports, Cesaretti-Monroy's next thought is about how Democrats want to remove due process rights afforded those accused of violating a Title IX provision.
Plans to Subvert Trump's Title IX Rule
H.R. 28 is a partial response to the Biden administration's now-defunct Title IX rule, which added "gender identity" as a protected class, meaning that schools and colleges would be required to allow biological males claiming to identify as females to participate in women's sports or other activities, force biological females to share locker room and bathroom spaces with biological males identifying as females, and force students and faculty to use a student's chosen pronouns instead of their biological pronouns or face discipline, among other things.
In addition, the Biden Title IX rule did away with some due process protections like the right of the accused to face their accuser and question them. Under the Biden-era rule, accusers and the accused could meet privately with Title IX administrators instead.
READ MORE: Federal Judge Slams Department of Education's Bizarre Interpretation of Title IX and Transgenderism
Higher education administrators and lobbyists were all for the Biden administration's rule, and they know the Trump administration won't be going back to it. So, it looks like California's plan will be to claim that the 2020 Title IX rules are a "floor" that only gives basic protections and argue that they have the right to add "additional protections" for the "most vulnerable" students, meaning LGBTQ++/transgender students.
Cesaretti-Monroy says:
"[F]or certain [Title IX] procedures, yes, you have to follow Trump's regulations; however, we have state law [Sex Equity Act] that provides additional protections to students on campus -- and employees, for that matter. It does return us to live hearings in specific types of due process procedures for specific types of complaints, but not for all complaints.
"It also doesn't prevent institutions -- if they want to take it a step further and provide additional protections above the 2020 regs, it doesn't prevent you from doing that."
She added that "[T]here were certain definitions of what constituted sexual harassment that were not included in the Trump regulations that are included in state law."
Now we're getting to the point. She was then pressed as to what those were and replied:
"Certain forms of sexual harassment for LGBTQ+ students. They are required -- by state law you are required to provide accommodations for them, whereas under Title IX you don't necessarily have to."
Take a guess as to what those forms of "sexual harassment" would be. Things like using the wrong pronoun, or using the bathroom/locker room of the gender they identify as that day, or playing on the girls' team if they're a biological male identifying as a female.
Not to fear; the California legislature (well, the Democrats anyway) and the California Attorney General's office are ready to fight for the right to continue to harm biological females - while describing their actions as providing "additional protections" for "vulnerable" students.
The stance of the state legislature moving forward is the -- we are really relying on the Attorney General's office. At this point, we are -- we have been told that they are prepared and ready, that at any point if they feel like the Trump Administration has overstepped, or understepped, that they will begin lawsuits against them.
In my conversations with the Attorney General's office, they basically were like, we're gearing up. We're going to have lawsuits against them.
H.R. 28 Must Be Passed
H.R. 28, which would do away with this madness, is a brief and clearly worded piece of legislation; here's a sample (read the full text of the bill at the end of this article):
(1) It shall be a violation of subsection (a) for a recipient of Federal financial assistance who operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities to permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.
Republican elected officials in California, including San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, strongly urge Congress to pass H.R. 28.
It should not be a controversial statement that men should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports—but unfortunately, this is where we are. Female athletes are losing scholarships, opportunities, and even facing injuries due to unfair competition.
— Supervisor Jim Desmond (@jim_desmond) February 3, 2025
Just last year, a high… pic.twitter.com/GzBjxde2ZQ
In a video posted to X, Desmond said:
To me, this is stealing scholarships. This is stealing trophies. This is stealing titles that women should be having, but instead they're getting beat or outpaced or physically outmaneuvered by biological men. We can't have this anymore. We've gotta keep women's sports for women and then men's sports for men. We can't be intermixing them and cheating women out of spots and titles they should have.
He's completely right.
Read the full text of H.R. 28 below:
Join the conversation as a VIP Member