The U.S. The Department of Education announced Wednesday that it has opened an investigation into the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) for violations of “federal antidiscrimination laws related to girls’ and women’s sports.”
The investigation comes after MSHSL recently told member schools that it will continue to allow athletes to compete “consistent with their gender identity,” despite an executive order from President Donald Trump barring male athletes from girls’ sports.
“In Minnesota, participation and eligibility of transgender student-athletes is determined by state law, through the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the Minnesota Constitution. The Minnesota State High School League, similar to other youth sports organizations, is subject to state anti-discrimination laws, which prohibit discrimination based on gender identity,” MSHSL said.
In a press release, the U.S. Department of Education said state laws “do not override federal antidiscrimination laws, and these entities and their member schools remain subject to Title IX and its implementing regulations.”
The California Interscholastic Federation is also under investigation.
“The Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want, but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. “OCR’s Chicago and San Francisco regional offices will conduct directed investigations into both organizations to ensure that female athletes in these states are treated with the dignity, respect, and equality that the Trump Administration demands. I would remind these organizations that history does not look kindly on entities and states that actively opposed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws that protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment.”
