ST. PAUL – Civil rights offices in both the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) have found that the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) are both in violation of Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination.
State Representative Peggy Scott (R-Andover), who is the chief-author of the Preserving Girls Sports Act in the Minnesota House, said she was not surprised.
“This state has seen repeated incidents of biological males competing in girls’ sports, to the detriment of our female athletes,” Scott said.
The joint federal finding 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. It also allowed them to occupy female intimate facilities.
Scott’s Preserving Girls Sports Act was cited in the federal report, noting it “would have amended Minnesota state law to prevent males from participating in athletic programs designated for girls.”
Her proposal specifically states that only students of the female sex may participate in an elementary or secondary school athletic team or sport that an educational institution has restricted on the basis of sex to women or girls. If there is a dispute, a student must present a signed physician’s statement indicating the student’s sex is based solely on the student’s internal and external anatomy, natural occurring level of testosterone, and an analysis of the student’s chromosomes.
MDE and MSHSL were given 10 days to voluntarily resolve their Title IX violations or risk imminent enforcement action.
“It is clear that Minnesota’s Department of Education and the State High School League are allowing discrimination against our female athletes,” Scott said. “Girls sports belong only to those who were born as a female.”