The Justice Department on Wednesday said it is investigating whether a near-decade-old law in California violates federal laws against sex discrimination by allowing transgender student-athletes to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity.

In a news release, the department said it had launched an inquiry into whether a 2013 state law, A.B. 1266, conflicts with Title IX, the landmark civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs that receive government funding.

President Trump and administration officials have argued the law bars transgender girls from competing on girls school sports teams.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Wednesday it had sent letters of legal notice to California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D), state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which governs high school sports in the state and the Jurupa Unified School District, where a 16-year-old transgender track-and-field athlete has for months been the target of protests.

Representatives for Bonta, the CIF and the Jurupa Unified School District did not immediately return a request for comment. A spokesperson for the state Department of Education said it cannot comment on a pending investigation.

The inquiry, the DOJ said, will establish “whether California, its senior legal, educational, and athletic organizations, and the school district are engaging in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of sex.”

“Title IX exists to protect women and girls in education. It is perverse to allow males to compete against........

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