Your Rights in California in Response to Federal Attacks

Federal Agency Actions

Federal agencies have begun implementing President Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ Executive Orders, as well as taking independent actions aligned with the goals of the anti-LGBTQ+ Executive Orders. We will try to provide updates about these and other federal developments that impact LGBTQ+ rights in California.

In April 2025 and again in July 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) issued directives characterizing gender-affirming health care for young people as “fraud” and “exploitative” and instructing federal lawyers to prioritize investigations of institutions, individual providers, and pharmaceutical companies. The USDOJ also sent civil subpoenas to at least 20 health care institutions around the country demanding information about gender-affirming care provided to young people. A number of health care entities and parents are fighting the subpoenas in court. In addition, California is one of 17 states participating in a lawsuit, Massachusetts v. Trump, which was filed in August 2025 and alleges that the USDOJ’s directives and all efforts to enforce them (such as subpoenas) are illegal and unconstitutional.

In 2026, the USDOJ began additionally pursuing grand jury subpoenas, through a Texas federal court, against institutions around the country that have provided gender-affirming care to young people, including Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, but a federal court then issued a temporary restraining order blocking USDOJ from seizing California families’ confidential medical records.

In December 2025, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services published proposed regulations that would exclude gender-affirming care for youth from coverage under Medicaid programs and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP), including Medi-Cal, and would limit federal funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care for youth, but these proposed rules are not in effect and will be challenged in court.

In July 2025, the USDOJ filed a lawsuit alleging that California’s laws and policies allowing transgender student-athletes to compete on gender-appropriate teams violate federal anti-discrimination law. In June 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the legality and constitutionality of Idaho and West Virginia laws banning trans student-athletes from competing on gender-appropriate teams. However, California’s protections of all students’ right to participate in sports based on their gender identity remain in effect. Equality California Statement on BPJ and Hecox Decisions. The State of California has also filed its own lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to protect the rights of transgender student-athletes and California’s education funding.