The Trump administration is moving forward on its threat to sue the state of Minnesota for allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls sports.
In a complaint announced Monday by the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the Trump administration accused the Minnesota Department of Education and the governing body that oversees high school sports in the state of violating Title IX by allowing male athletes to compete in sports designated exclusively for female competitors. The administration also accused Minnesota of “allowing boys to invade intimate spaces designed exclusively for girls,” including bathrooms and locker rooms.
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The Trump Administration does not tolerate flawed state policies that ignore biological reality and unfairly undermine girls on the playing field, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. This Department of Justice is proud to partner with HHS and the Department of Education to protect our girls in Minnesota and across the country.
The Trump administration is asking a judge to rule that Minnesota’s transgender athlete policy violates Title IX. The complaint also alleges that the Minnesota Department of Education receives more than $3 billion in federal funding each year and therefor must must comply with Title IX.
The move is just the latest in a series of lawsuits or threats the Trump administration has made against states and universities regarding transgender policies. Last year, the Justice Department also filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Education, alleging it violated federal law by allowing transgender athletes to compete on female sports teams.
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Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The order aimed to prohibit people who were assigned male at birth from participating in female sports categories and instructed the Justice Department to enforce the ban.
The conservative-leaning Supreme Court is also currently hearing a case that could decide whether states are allowed to pass laws that bar transgender girls and women from participating on female school athletic teams. Lower courts had previously ruled in favor of transgender athletes, but the High Court appeared likely to side with state bans during oral arguments earlier this year.
The courts decision, expected by early summer, could have sweeping implications for an estimated 122,000 transgender teenagers competing in high school sports nationwide. So far, more than two dozen Republican-led states have passed laws banning transgender athletes from participating in girls and women’s sports.