This Friday, the California Family Council is pulling together female athletes, parents, and community leaders outside the Westin South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa to call on the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) to reverse its controversial policy allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports.
The press conference will begin at 9:00 a.m., one hour before CIF’s Executive Committee is scheduled to meet inside the hotel at 10:00 a.m. CFC Outreach Director Sophia Lorey plans to announce her intent to present nearly 20,000 petition signatures demanding CIF return to policies that align with federal Title IX law, laws designed to protect equal athletic opportunities for girls.
The event is expected to feature testimonies from female high school athletes who say they’ve lost out on medals, placements, and scholarship chances to male competitors. Many of these young women will later take their stories inside to the CIF meeting, where they will address the committee during public comment.
“This is about justice,” Lorey said ahead of the event. “Girls across California are being sidelined by policies that ignore biological reality. CIF must answer for that.”
Parents and advocates joining the athletes will call attention to the emotional and physical toll these policies have taken on girls who train year-round, only to face unfair competition and feel silenced for speaking out.
Supporters are encouraged to attend both the 9:00 a.m. outdoor press conference and the 10:00 a.m. CIF meeting. Visible, respectful public presence is vital to demonstrate the widespread concern over the issue.
This rally comes just days before the 53rd anniversary of Title IX, signed into law on June 23, 1972. What once opened the door to fair competition for girls now hangs in the balance as officials debate the future of sex-segregated sports.
The petition remains open to the public nationwide. Anyone can sign at http://xxonly.org
