MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration said Tuesday that the state of Minnesota and its governing body for high school sports are violating a key federal law against sex discrimination by allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports.
The ruling came from the civil rights offices at the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. The agencies said the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League are violating Title IX “by allowing males to compete in female sports and occupy female intimate facilities.”
The agencies said they found that the league has allowed transgender athletes to compete in girls Alpine and Nordic skiing, girls lacrosse team, girls track and field, girls volleyball and girls fastpitch softball.
“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,” Craig Trainor, the federal Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement.
Trump’s administration initiated its investigation after he issued an executive order in February giving the federal government wide latitude to pull funding from entities that “deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities” by allowing transgender athletes to participate.
The Minnesota State High School League said in response back then that it would follow state law — not the executive order — and continue to allow transgender athletes to compete in prep athletics. Associations in some other states signaled they also might defy the president’s order, but others took a wait-and-see approach.
The federal agencies gave the state and league 10 days to voluntarily accept a list of conditions to reverse their policies or risk imminent enforcement action.
The state Department of Education said in a statement it is “reviewing the letter and remains committed to ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive in a safe and supportive school community.”
The league did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has launched over two dozen investigations of transgender policies in schools and colleges, including access to sports, locker rooms and bathrooms, according The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news organization. The U.S. Education Department said in August that Denver schools violated Title IX by creating all-gender bathrooms.
