President Donald Trump’s administration says Minnesota’s high school sports league violated cisgender female athletes' civil rights by allowing transgender girls and women to compete under their gender identity.
The civil rights offices for both the U.S. Education and the Health and Human Services departments found the Minnesota Education Department and the Minnesota State High School League in violation of Title IX. Both agencies said the state sports authority and state government flouted the president’s “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order forbidding trans women’s participation in women's competitions.
Specifically, the federal agencies said Minnesota allowed “male athletes” on girls' Alpine and Nordic skiing, lacrosse, track and field, volleyball, and fast-pitch softball teams. Transgender female athletes were allowed to compete and use the same locker rooms as other participants in those sports.
“For too many years, Minnesota’s political leadership has found itself on the wrong side of justice, common sense, and the American people. Now the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League find themselves on the wrong side of Title IX by allowing males to compete in women’s sports,” said Craig Trainor, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
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“The Trump Administration will not allow Minnesota or any other state to sacrifice the safety, fair treatment, and dignity of its female students to appease the false idols of radical gender ideology. Once an education program or entity takes federal funds, Title IX compliance becomes mandatory. And the federal government will hold Minnesota accountable until it recognizes that fact.”
Title IX is the federal law protecting against discrimination based on sex, and the same statute former President Joe Biden cited when he sought to expand protections for transgender students, though a federal judge struck down the Democratic administration’s interpretation in January.
Trump administration officials now seem intent on swinging in the opposite direction, insisting the protection of trans student athletes harms cis athletes' access to fair sports.
“Minnesota permits male athletes to compete in sports designated for females, which denies females the equal opportunities under Title IX that they deserve in athletic competition,” said Paula M. Stannard, HHS’ Office of Civil Rights director. “Minnesota fails to recognize the fundamental biological differences between males and females — differences that justify single-sex teams and are essential to ensuring fair and safe competition for girls and women.”
The agencies gave Minnesota 10 days to revise its standards on trans participation in sports or risk all federal funding connected to school athletics. It also demands the state retrain staff to cooperate with and enforce Trump’s executive order.
It also wants the state to strip any records and medals from the books that are held by trans female athletes, then send letters of apology to cis gender athletes who receive or have titles restored as a result.
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Of note, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison anticipated the actions in April and preemptively sued the Trump administration over threatening federal funding.
“Trump’s unconscionable attack on this small number of vulnerable children is bullying, plain and simple. His burning desire to destroy trans kids and punish us for helping them live and thrive isn't just a violation of the law — it’s a violation of Minnesota values. I’ve been around my share of bullies in my life, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you don’t give bullies an inch. We’re not going to cave at the expense of trans kids — or any vulnerable community that needs our compassion and protection,” Ellison said at the time.
“Sometimes countries face a moment like this — faced with a leader bent on destroying entire communities and instilling fear in those who protect them. The lessons of history tell us a leader like that doesn’t stop at one community — after he’s destroyed one, he goes after another and another and another.”
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