What are Minnesota’s high school league rules on transgender athletes?

A Minnesota teen competing in a high school softball tournament next week was singled out Friday in a post on X by U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer because she’s a transgender athlete.

Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District and is the No. 3 Republican leader in the House, wrote on X:

“Last night, a team of hardworking female athletes in Minnesota were denied a state title because our state’s ‘leaders’ refuse to stand up for reality, safety, and fairness.

“This insanity must end.”

Emmer’s words were atop a post he shared from Riley Gaines, a 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer who’s become prominent in the movement to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports. Her post included video naming the Minnesota high school softball player who is transgender.

Gaines’ post on X read: “Last night, a man single-handedly carried his high school in Minnesota to a Class 4A Softball Championship. He pitched 14 shutout innings in back-to-back games to defeat the defending state champs.

“14. Shutout. Innings. You are a shameful, sorry excuse for a man, @GovTimWalz.”

An executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February declared that transgender athletes are not eligible to play in girls’ sports. The order opened a U.S. Department of Education probe into the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), which in 2015 adopted a policy allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports. The MSHSL oversees the state’s high school softball leagues.

Attorney General Keith Ellison sued President Trump over the order but a group of Minnesota softball players sued Ellison, stating that female athletes are at a “significant disadvantage” against a player who was born male.

Months of debate and tens of thousands of emails led to the MSHSL’s decision in 2015 to open girls’ sports to transgender student athletes. Eighteen of the 20 board members approved the new policy, making Minnesota the 33rd state to adopt a formal transgender student policy.

The high school league’s bylaws allow students to participate “consistent with their gender identity or expression in an environment free from discrimination with an equal opportunity for participation in athletics and fine arts.”

It’s unclear. The MSHSL does not require or keep records of transgender athletes in the state, citing rights granted by the Data Privacy Act.

Illinois, a state with twice the population of Minnesota, has an estimated 25 transgender athletes out of 133,000 high school athletes, according to the Illinois High School Association.

At the collegiate level, NCAA President Charlie Baker told a congressional hearing last winter that he believed there were fewer than 10 transgender athletes among the nation’s 510,000 college athletes.