If you want to understand just how disconnected Minnesota’s leadership is from ordinary citizens (and even from basic reality), look no further than Attorney General Keith Ellison. On April 22, Ellison announced he is suing the federal government, not to fight violent crime or recover the $250 million stolen from taxpayers in the Feeding Our Future scandal, but to ensure that biological males can compete against girls in school sports.
That’s right. With Minnesota facing the threat of crime, rampant fraud in public programs, and skyrocketing costs burdening every family, Ellison has made it a priority to ensure boys can take spots on girls’ teams. It’s absurd, but it is more than that. It’s an insult to every Minnesota parent and young woman who recognizes the importance of girls’ sports and believes girls deserve a fair and safe environment in which to compete.
Ellison filed the lawsuit to block the federal “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order, a policy aimed at ending the bizarre practice of allowing young men to compete alongside women. His lawsuit, cloaked in the language of civil rights, is an ideological stunt that elevates politics over fairness, biology, and basic common sense.
Ellison’s suit is many things. It’s a shiny object meant to distract from his growing failures — especially his mishandling of the Feeding Our Future case. It’s a stunt directed toward the most extreme elements of his political base. And it’s an attack on equal opportunity that jeopardizes federal funding for Minnesota schools and law enforcement. All, apparently, to make a radical point that most Minnesotans reject outright.
This is not where the public stands. According to a New York Times/Ipsos poll, 79% of Americans, including 67% of Democrats, oppose allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports. This isn’t a fringe opinion. It’s a national consensus. Ask any mom in St. Cloud or coach in Lakeville. Minnesotans believe in fairness. We believe in science. And we believe our daughters deserve a level playing field.
But fairness isn’t the apparent goal of Ellison’s lawsuit. His argument hinges on a tortured interpretation of Title IX, claiming that refusing to let males compete against girls somehow violates civil rights. That’s flat wrong. Multiple federal courts have said so. In Tennessee v. Cardona and Kansas v. U.S. Department of Education, judges affirmed what used to be obvious: Title IX was passed to protect women’s sports, not dismantle them.
And this debate isn’t just legal. It’s deeply human. The biological differences between male and female athletes are well-established — and ignoring them can have dangerous consequences. Just ask the girls in a Massachusetts high school basketball game that was halted at halftime after three female players were injured in collisions with a transgender athlete. Their coach ended the game early, saying he wouldn’t risk his players’ safety. That’s one story among many demonstrating that allowing young men to compete in girls’ sports is unsafe.
Meanwhile, where is Ellison on the issues that actually affect Minnesotans day-to-day? This is the same attorney general whose office failed to stop the largest fraud in state history. The same AG who remains silent as violent crime continues to rampage our cities. And now, his focus is on blocking a common-sense rule designed to protect girls? This isn’t leadership. It’s performance politics and ideological extremism. And Minnesotans — young athletes, their families, and taxpayers — are left paying the price.
As a father of three girls, I find this morally indefensible. But you don’t have to be a dad to girls to recognize this. Girls who rise before dawn to train, who sacrifice for excellence, and who dream of championships and college scholarships should not be told to step aside for someone who was born male. They’re not bigots. They’re competitors. They should never have to apologize for wanting a fair game.
This isn’t about hate; it’s about protecting fairness, safety, and opportunity. And it’s about returning some basic common sense to how we govern.
Ellison may think he’s fighting a civil-rights battle, but what he launched is a political crusade that undermines equality, disregards science, and betrays the trust of the people he was elected to serve.
It’s time for Minnesotans — Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike — to say, ‘Enough!”
Let girls compete safely. Let sports be fair. And let’s return to sanity.
Jim Schultz is president of the Minnesota Private Business Council (growthmn.com), is a former professor of constitutional law at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, and was the 2022 Republican nominee for Minnesota attorney general. He can be followed on X @JimForMN. He wrote this for the News Tribune.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not represent an official position of Alpha News.
Jim Schultz
Jim Schultz is the President of the Minnesota Private Business Council and was the 2022 Republican nominee for Attorney General.
