Minnesota’s battle over biological males competing in girls’ sports returned to federal court Monday, where attorneys representing female athletes fought to keep their Title IX lawsuit alive.
Female Athletes United is suing Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, state officials, the Minnesota State High School League and several school districts, arguing Minnesota’s policy allowing transgender girls to compete on girls’ teams violates Title IX.
On Monday, the defendants asked a federal judge to dismiss the case. Attorneys for Female Athletes United urged the court to let it proceed.
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Hal Frampton spoke with Alpha News following the hearing.
“Women and girls matter. Their sports matter, fairness to them matters, safety for them matters,” Frampton said. “That’s the entire point of Title IX, to create equal athletic opportunity for women and girls.”
WATCH: Attorneys slam Minnesota's 'discriminatory policy' allowing biological males in girls' sports
Keith Ellison and the state of Minnesota have moved to dismiss a lawsuit brought by female athletes against Minnesota’s policy.
“Women and girls matter. Their sports matter.… pic.twitter.com/2GduMnIwbO
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) September 29, 2026
“Minnesota’s policy detracts from that, and so we’re here challenging it,” he added.
What happens next
For now, both sides wait.
“The next step is to hear from the court,” Frampton said.
Frampton said he was “optimistic” following Monday’s hearing and said the judge asked “very good questions of both sides.”
If the judge refuses to dismiss the case, Frampton said attorneys would move into discovery and eventually toward summary judgment or trial.
If the judge dismisses the case, “It would most likely go on appeal, and we would be headed to the Eighth Circuit to ask them to let the court case proceed,” Frampton said.
The case has already been there once.
The Eighth Circuit ruled in April against Female Athletes United’s request for a preliminary injunction. That decision did not end the underlying lawsuit.
Then the legal landscape shifted.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia v. B.P.J. that Title IX permits schools to maintain separate male and female athletic teams based on biological sex and does not require an exception allowing biological males who identify as female to compete on girls’ teams.
Renee Carlson, general counsel for True North Legal and co-counsel for Female Athletes United, told Alpha News the fight has taken on new significance following that decision.
“We’ve had multiple girls coming out and saying that this is concerning,” Carlson said.
“We even had school boards coming out recently taking votes on the Minnesota State High School League law, saying, ‘We no longer want to follow something that we know is not only unfair to women and girls, but that the United States Supreme Court has said is actually inconsistent with the definition of Title IX,’” she added.
As Alpha News previously reported, the Elk River School Board voted 4-3 earlier this month to support a proposed amendment that would base eligibility for girls’ sports on biological sex.
The vote directs the district’s representatives to the Minnesota State High School League to support the proposed change as it moves through the league’s governing process.
However, Minnesota officials see the law differently.
Ellison has argued that the Minnesota Human Rights Act requires schools to allow transgender students to participate in extracurricular activities consistent with their gender identity.
That leaves the state’s policy caught in an increasingly consequential legal fight over Title IX and Minnesota law.
Carlson said the case could eventually have implications beyond Minnesota, particularly if it reaches the Eighth Circuit again.
“We hope that this is a vindication for women and girls, potentially across the country,” she said.
But first, the lawsuit has to survive.
And Frampton said a final ruling against Minnesota could force the state to rethink its policy.
“If the court finds a Title IX violation here, I think that would make it very hard for the state of Minnesota to continue its policy,” he said. “They would almost certainly have to revisit that and hopefully restore fairness and safety for women.”
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
