A federal ruling announced Tuesday found the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League are in violation of Title IX due to their ongoing policy allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls' sports.
In their announcement, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights wrote, "MDE and MSHSL violated Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination by allowing males to compete in female sports and occupy female intimate facilities."
The ruling cited transgender athletes competing in several girls' sports including Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, lacrosse, track and field, volleyball, and softball.
“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 ED’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “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.”
In February, the Education Department began investigation the MSHSL's police after the league declared it would not abide by President Donald Trump's Executive Order "Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
The ED elevated that investigation in June, while the HHS began a compliance review of both the Minnesota Department of Education and MSHSL in response to widespread uproar regarding a transgender softball pitcher who was part of the 2025 Champlin Park state championship team.
“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 HHS’ OCR Director Paula M. Stannard. “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.”
WCCO Radio has reached out in the past to both the Minnesota Department of Education and MSHSL regarding the state's transgender athlete policy.
"This is all about the federal government trying to persecute transgender people," said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. "Whether it's the latest thing on Title IX, or the first one on them trying violate birthright citizenship, we're just going to see them in court."
At stake, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of federal funding for public schools in Minnesota. That could be resolved through a Resolution Agreement outlined in Tuesday's announcement:
- MDE and MSHSL must rescind or revise any guidance permitting males to compete in girls’ sports to comply with Title IX and to reflect that to the extent State law conflicts with Title IX, federal law preempts State law;
- MDE will issue a statewide notice to all federally funded entities operating interscholastic athletic programs mandating their strict compliance with Title IX by separating athletics and intimate facilities based on sex;
- The notice will require these entities to adopt biology-based definitions of “male” and “female” and remind them that non-compliance with Title IX places their federal funding in jeopardy;
- MDE and MSHSL will submit updated Title IX training, procedure, and process materials for ED’s OCR and HHS’ OCR to review and approve, and will conduct the approved training to MDE and MSHSL personnel;
- MDE will restore to female athletes all records and titles misappropriated by male athletes competing in female categories, and send each female a letter of apology on behalf of the State of Minnesota for allowing her educational experience to be marred by sex discrimination. MDE will demand in writing that MSHSL take parallel action;
- MDE will require each school and MSHSL to submit to MDE an annual certification that they have complied with Title IX.