(The Center Square) - California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond issued an initial response to the U.S. Department of Justice’s claims that the state’s required inclusion of transgender athletes in student sports violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protections Clause.

The transgender high school athlete whose participation in this weekend’s California track and field championships prompted President Donald Trump to threaten to remove state funding reached the podium in all three of her events Saturday.