NEW: Justice Department Sues Minnesota for Allowing Boys in Girls’ Sports and Intimate Spaces
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) on Monday, alleging sex-based discrimination by allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports and use girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is a well-known advocate for these policies, and he infamously signed a 2023 law, directing all public schools to provide free menstrual products to all menstruating students, including trans students, in grades 4 to 12.
The 45-page lawsuit was filed in Minnesota federal court, arguing that the “unfair, intentionally discriminatory practice violates the very core of Title IX of the Education Amendments.”
“Title IX’s core purpose is to ensure that both boys and girls have equal educational opportunities. This includes protecting girls’ equal educational athletic opportunities by recognizing that boys have an inherent biological advantage in sports,” the filing reads, noting male and female athletes have “undeniable physiological differences.”
“But Minnesota casts this aside in favor of so-called “gender identity,” a choice that elevates ideology over biology, fairness, and safety. In open defiance of Title IX’s antidiscrimination protections, Minnesota’s policies and practices create unfair competition, deny girls equal educational opportunities, and expose girls to a hostile educational environment with heightened risks of physical injury and psychological harm.”
It further points to the over $3 billion in federal funding that the Minnesota Department of Education receives annually from the US Department of Education (USDOE), arguing that Minnesota has a duty to comply with USDOE’s regulations implementing Title IX.
The MDE also receives approximately $42.6 million annually from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is required to comply with HHS’s regulations implementing Title IX
President Trump’s Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports executive order directs the USDOE to prioritize Title IX enforcement actions “against educational institutions (including athletic associations composed of or governed by such institutions) that deny female students an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them, in the women’s category, to compete with or against or to appear unclothed before males.”
The Department of Justice asked the court to block the state’s policy of abolishing sex-separated sports and intimate spaces, monitor their compliance with Title IX, and to compensate female athletes and correct girls’ athletic records that have been set by male athletes.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Education Secretary Linda McMahon issued statements on the lawsuit in a press release:
“The Trump Administration does not tolerate flawed state policies that ignore biological reality and unfairly undermine girls on the playing field,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “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 Justice Department cannot ignore a state’s brazen defiance of federal antidiscrimination law,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “In service of radical gender ideology, Minnesota’s actions violate Title IX and deny female athletes their hard-earned trophies, records, dignity, and safety.”
“We will not allow girls to be denied equal opportunity and basic privacy,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “Title IX is clear: schools that accept federal funding must protect the rights, safety, and dignity of female students.”
“The Trump Administration will always fight for the safety and civil rights of women and girls,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Minnesota’s policies allow men to dominate women’s sports, denying female athletes fair competition and eroding their right to equal access in educational programs and activities. Thank you to Attorney General Bondi for bringing this fight to the courts to hold Minnesota accountable.”
This is a developing story.
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