Trans Ideology Could Cost Blue State Schools $10 Billion
by Victoria Manning
California, Maine, and Minnesota violate Title IX laws by exposing children to transgender boys in girls’ spaces.
Three Democrat-run states are risking $10 billion in federal funding to continue allowing boys in girls’ bathrooms and sports teams on schoolchildren, and the Trump administration is cracking down.
On February 25th, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent warning letters to California, Maine, and Minnesota for defying federal anti-discrimination laws. All three blue states still require girls to compete against boys in sports, a violation of Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972. Bondi vows to sue or seek termination of federal funding to states refusing to comply with the law.
How much is at risk?
In 2024 Maine was awarded $276 million funded by tax dollars through the U.S. Department of Education. Minnesota was granted over $937 million, and California risks losing over $8 billion in federal education funding. In addition, these three states received nearly $1 billion for USDA school nutrition programs.
In a February 2025 governors’ meeting in D.C., Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) threatened to sue Pres. Trump over his vow to withhold education funding to protect girls in states that refuse to follow Title IX laws. Now she’s doubling down, claiming the President doesn't have the authority to deny her state funding: He "can't create laws . . . by issuing executive orders." Mills may want to repeat her government 101 course—it’s the President’s responsibility to execute laws through federal agencies.
Since Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex, the Attorney General is responsible for its enforcement. Federal regulations permit agencies to withhold funding to encourage adherence to the law. Gov. Mills only wants to follow the law when it suits her far-left extremism.
In 2022, Joe Biden threatened to take away free school lunches from poor children if states didn't comply with his interpretation of gender identity. Biden also withheld education funding for schools in 2023 because he didn't want gun safety courses to be taught. Gov. Mills didn't threaten to sue the Democrat President over withholding education funds then. She is simply placing her extreme transgender ideology over the education and welfare of Maine's children.
Why is Title IX Important?
Title IX was created to provide opportunities for women who were excluded from participation in athletics. In the 19th century, it was believed women's fertility could be harmed by participating in strenuous exercise. Women weren't allowed to compete in the Olympics until 1920, and only with strict limitations. It wasn't until the late 1960's women started to prove athletics wasn't harmful to their bodies.
In 1967, the Amateur Athletic Union disallowed women from competing in distances over 1.5 miles. That didn't stop Katherine Switzer, who entered the Boston Marathon that same year using her initials rather than her female name. At mile 2, the race director tried to remove her from the course by pulling her race bib off as she was running. Other runners fought back against the race director and Switzer broke the mold, becoming the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon. She became a role model for women and girls around the world to become involved in athletics.
Richard Cox. Source: WJLA News
Yet the Democrat agenda to permit boys in girls' sports threatens the opportunities Switzer and others fought so hard to obtain.
The right of girls to be safe in public spaces is also at stake. In January, a male registered sex offender, Richard Cox, in Arlington Virginia entered a girls' locker room at a community pool that is also used by the school district. Cox exposed himself to a mother and her 9-year-old daughter. Cox claims he did nothing wrong because he identifies as a woman and has a right to be in the women's locker room.
This issue crosses party lines. An Arlington resident and self-described Democrat lesbian, Mariah Burton Nelson, told the Arlington County Board, "I am speaking for women and girls who want safe private and exclusively female locker rooms.” She also said that all males need to be out of women's spaces, "We don't want any naked men around us.”
Yet Senate Democrats have adopted the extreme position on this issue—supporting men claiming to be women to takeover women's sports and enter women's private spaces. Forty-five Democrats voted along party lines to stop a bill that would prohibit men from competing in girls' sports, not one Democrat supported the bill—4 did not vote.
Democrats lost big in November 2024 due to their extremist positions on issues like this and it appears they haven't learned their lesson. It's amazing they want this to be the hill they continue to die on.
