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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Education has informed the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) that the federal government’s cases against MDE and MSHSL for continuing to allow males to compete in girls’ sports and enter female-only facilities have been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for enforcement action.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon asserted Monday in a statement that, while Minnesota has had “repeated opportunities to comply with Title IX,” the state “has chosen defiance – continuing to jeopardize the safety of women and girls, deny them fair competition, and erode their right to equal access in educational programs and activities.”
“As Minnesota reels from a massive fraud scandal exposing Governor Tim Walz’s dereliction of duty, today’s referral to DOJ underscores the state’s ongoing failure to safeguard its citizens and uphold the rule of law,” McMahon added. “The Trump Administration will not stop until accountability is delivered for Minnesota’s students.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. also explained that “Minnesota refused to comply,” leading the two departments to refer the case to DOJ for enforcement.
“Minnesota is violating Title IX, and we will not look the other way,” Kennedy said.
Following President Donald Trump’s February 2025 executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” MSHSL released a statement asserting it would refuse to comply with the order, choosing instead to follow its own state law that allowed males to compete against girls.
“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,” the statement said. “Therefore, students in Minnesota are allowed to participate consistent with their gender identity.”
Also in February 2025, U.S. Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi wrote to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and MSHSL Executive Director Erich Martens of the intention of the DOJ to “hold accountable states and state entities that violate federal law.”
Bondi explained that, while the president had directed the DOJ and the Education Department “to prioritize enforcement actions against athletic associations that deny girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them to compete against boys,” Minnesota’s state athletic association stated it would continue allowing boys in girls’ athletic events.
“Attorney General Ellison has since issued a legal opinion asserting that the Minnesota State High School League would be violating state law unless it continues this demeaning, unfair, and dangerous practice,” Bondi wrote. “And he has shamefully described the federal government’s attempts to enforce federal antidiscrimination laws as ‘authoritarian bullying.’”
Asserting that “under the Constitution, federal law – including Title IX – is ‘the supreme Law of the Land,’” the U.S. AG informed Ellison and Martens that the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights “has begun a Title IX investigation into the Minnesota State High School League.”
“If the Department of Education’s investigation shows that relevant Minnesota entities are indeed denying girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them to compete against boys, the Department of Justice stands ready to take all appropriate action to enforce federal law,” Bondi stated.
In June 2025, both HHS and the Education Department engaged in probes into Minnesota’s continued refusal to end the participation of males in female-only sports.
HHS conducted a compliance review due to a male athlete’s participation in an MSHSL girls’ softball championship, and the U.S. Department of Education “expanded its Title IX investigations into MDE and MSHSL.”
In September, the two federal agencies determined that Minnesota violated Title IX and should be referred to DOJ for proceedings, possibly leading to the loss of federal funding for both MDE and MSHSL.
Investigations found that the male athlete who has competed as a member of the Champlin Park High School girls’ varsity fastpitch softball team since 2023 “led the program to a winning record against the other competing all-girls softball teams,” according to the statement by the Trump administration agencies.
“They also determined that, over the course of several years, MDE and MSHSL allowed male athletes to compete on the girls’ Alpine ski team, the girls’ Nordic skiing team, the girls’ lacrosse team, the girls’ track and field team, the girls’ volleyball team, and the girls’ fastpitch softball team,” the statement added.
“For too many years, Minnesota’s political leadership has found itself on the wrong side of justice, common sense, and the American people,” the education department’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said at the time. “Now the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League find themselves on the wrong side of Title IX by allowing males to compete in women’s sports.”
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights Director Paula M. Stannard added that the state’s response shows it “fails to recognize the fundamental biological differences between males and females—differences that justify single-sex teams and are essential to ensuring fair and safe competition for girls and women.”
In January 2025, a New York Times/Ipsos survey of 2,128 people found that the vast majority of Americans – including a majority of Democrats, said males claiming to identify as females should not be permitted to participate in female sports.
Of all the participants surveyed, 79% said males identifying as females should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports.
Among 1,025 Democrats, 67% said males should not be permitted to compete with females, while 94% of 1,022 Republicans said the same.
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