WASHINGTON - The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has launched an investigation into whether the Minnesota Department of Education and Minnesota State High School League allowed “male athletes to compete on sports teams reserved for females.”
The investigation comes on the heels of controversy over a transgender metro-area high school softball player whose team competed in the state tournament this spring. The office is investigating MDE and MSHSL for Title IX violations.
“Females cannot be relegated to the sidelines under Title IX,” said OCR Director Paula Stannard. “As a recipient of federal funds, Title IX requires Minnesota to ensure fair and safe opportunities for females to compete on sex-segregated teams — regardless of state law obligations.”
The player’s participation sparked backlash from the right and prompted a lawsuit from three Maple Grove and Farmington high school softball players against Attorney General Keith Ellison and other Democrats. They are trying to bar transgender athletes from competing in their sport.
MDE and MSHSL could not immediately be reached for comment on the investigation. But Ellison strongly condemned the investigation, calling it a “sham exercise.” He urged HHS and all other federal agencies to not violate the privacy of minors in the process and warned that his office would “vigorously defend” any state agency following state and federal law and the Constitution.
“The Trump administration is dead wrong about Title IX, but that’s not stopping them from engaging in another round of piling onto and bullying vulnerable children who only want to live their lives in peace and safety,” Ellison said. “This ‘investigation’ is ripped from a playbook we’ve already seen in other states and will lead to a pre-ordained outcome.”
Republicans in Congress have been at the forefront of opposition to allowing transgender athletes to participate in high school and college sports.
They have an ally in President Donald Trump, who has taken a hostile stance against transgender athletes and earlier this year signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
