Van Binsbergen: Court decision damaging for female sports

ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled biological males have the right to compete in female athletics, a decision Rep. Scott Van Binsbergen, R-Montevideo, said threatens the safety of girls and undermines fair play.

House Republicans introduced a pair of bills earlier this year to provide clear protections for female athletes and ensure fairness in competition but House Democrats blocked them from passing. The Preserving Girls Sports Act (H.F. 12), which Van Binsbergen co-authored, specifically states that only female students may participate in school sports restricted on the basis of sex to women or girls.

“This ruling is exactly why House Republicans worked to clarify our state law last session,” Van Binsbergen said. “At the time, people in our area were dismayed we have to update state law to make clear that biological males shouldn’t participate in girls sports. People couldn’t understand why House Democrats voted against protecting female athletes and their ability to have fair competition. Now, the Supreme Court has shown us why we need to clarify state law. This issue needs to be addressed in the 2026 session, and I look forward to this discussion.”

Van Binsbergen said a quick internet search turns up numerous stories where girls competing against biological males in women’s sports have been hurt, including everything from concussions to losing teeth. And a United Nations report found that female athletes around the world have lost almost 900 medals to transgender men competing in their events.

House Republicans last March sought to pass the Preserving Girls Sports Act, but House Democrats blocked the move. House Republicans tabled the bill after Democrats voted against it, keeping the legislation available for consideration in the 2026 session – along with the similarly themed H.F. 1233.

“This issue has become partisan politics at its worst,” Van Binsbergen said. “You have every single Minnesota House Democrat voting against protecting female athletes, followed by a court packed with judges appointed by Democrat governors – including five selected by Tim Walz himself – all marching in lockstep with the bizarre notion that biological males have a right to participate in girls sports. It’s sad to see how the radical left has taken hold in our courts and in our legislature, to the point common sense goes out the window and they can’t even agree biological males don’t belong in girls sports.”

In the meantime, the door remains open for biological males to continue participating in girls sports – as confirmed by the Supreme Court. Its Wednesday ruling was in Cooper v. USA Powerlifting, where it found that USA Powerlifting discriminated against a transgender athlete by banning her from women's events under the Human Rights Act. However, the court sent the case back to a lower court to decide if a “competitive fairness” defense could be a valid exception.

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