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The Trump administration has ruled that Minnesota education agencies violated Title IX by allowing male students who identify as female to compete in girls’ athletics, citing a transgender softball pitcher and other cases across sports.
The finding, announced after a joint investigation by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, targets the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League. Officials said the state’s policies allowing transgender participation in female sports violated federal civil rights protections.
According to a Department of Education press release, investigators highlighted the performance of a transgender pitcher who led a girls’ softball team to a state championship. The pitcher allowed just one earned run in 35 innings during the 2025 season and struck out 27 batters, which federal officials said demonstrated a clear athletic advantage. Other examples cited involved trans-identifying students competing in girls’ skiing, lacrosse, track and field, and volleyball.
“For too many years, Minnesota’s political leadership has found itself on the wrong side of justice, common sense, and the American people,” said Craig Trainor, the department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights. “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.”
Trainor added, “The Trump Administration will not allow Minnesota or any other state to sacrifice the safety, fair treatment, and dignity of its female students to appease the false idols of radical gender ideology. Once an education program or entity takes federal funds, Title IX compliance becomes mandatory. And the federal government will hold Minnesota accountable until it recognizes that fact.”
Federal officials have given Minnesota a 10-day deadline to amend its policies in line with Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order. Conditions include rescinding policies that permit males to play in female divisions, adopting biology-based definitions of “male” and “female,” restoring records and titles to female athletes, and issuing letters of apology to affected girls. Schools would also be required to certify annual compliance with Title IX.
If Minnesota fails to comply, the case will be referred to the Justice Department, which has already filed lawsuits against California and Maine over similar policies. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has filed his own lawsuit against the administration.