California has decided not to ban transgender athletes from competing in school sports, becoming the second state in the nation to defy the Trump administration’s policy after Maine.

Have you taken your place on the wall?

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From The Sacramento Bee:

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon gave California 10 days from June 27 to rescind any sports prizes awarded to trans athletes and ban them after the agency’s Office of Civil Rights said that the state had violated federal anti-discrimination law by allowing transgender girls to compete with cisgender girls.

The state Department of Education’s top attorney said Monday that it would not comply with a federal agreement requiring the state to rescind any trans-inclusionary guidelines and send cisgender female athletes who lost to a trans opponent personalized apologies. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office called McMahon’s proposed agreement a “political document” that carried no weight and would force the state to illegally violate its own anti-discrimination laws.

California is now the second state to defy the Trump administration over its policy on trans inclusion in sports, following Maine’s similar actions earlier this year. In April, the Department of Justice announced a lawsuit against Maine over its continued defiance of Title IX.

Curiously, this also follows what many viewed as a move to the right from Governor Newsom. On a podcast episode published in March, the California Governor called male participation in female sports “deeply unfair.” Now, however, he is openly defying the President and fighting to keep that same “deeply unfair” practice in place.

Now is the time to pray. Let’s pray that California’s leaders see reason and fight to protect women, not to endanger them by forcing them to compete with men.

Share your prayers for California and its leaders below.

(Excerpt from The Sacramento Bee. Photo Credit: South_agency/Getty Images Signature via Canva Teams)