The Minnesota State High School League (MSHL) recently published a statement explaining that it will not obey President Donald Trump’s updated Title IX rules that ban transgender athletes from playing in girl’s sports. The organization claimed it would honor Minnesota’s state discrimination laws ahead of the Title IX change.
As background, President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week barring anyone who is not biologically female from competing in female sporting categories. The order adds that any institutions that refuse to adhere to the rule change could have their federal funding stripped. The move has been widely celebrated by conservatives and protested by progressives.
However, the MSHL maintains that its rules will be “determined by state law, through the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the Minnesota Constitution.” A statement from the league adds that it will “continue to review the existing state laws alongside the new Presidential Executive Order and its timeline, processes for states, and requirements that are included.”
The statement, sent to all Minnesota high schools last week, added, “In Minnesota, participation and eligibility of transgender student-athletes is determined by state law, through the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the Minnesota Constitution.” The organization continued to emphasize it will adhere to state law over the new federal law imposed by Trump.
“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. Therefore, students in Minnesota are allowed to participate consistent with their gender identity. League Member Schools have done excellent work in respecting students and their individual situations as they determine their participation and eligibility within interscholastic sports,” the MSHL said.
The group maintained, “The League will continue to review the existing state laws alongside the new Presidential Executive Order and its timeline, processes for states, and requirements that are included.” However, Trump emphasized the order is long overdue. “With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over,” he said, when signing it on February 5.
The White House put out a statement explaining the executive order titled “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports.” The statement reads, “In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”
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The administration further explained, ” It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy. It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
The White House maintained that fairness must be upheld in women’s sports. “Many sport-specific governing bodies have no official position or requirements regarding trans-identifying athletes. Others allow men to compete in women’s categories if these men reduce the testosterone in their bodies below certain levels or provide documentation of “sincerely held” gender identity. These policies are unfair to female athletes and do not protect female safety,” the statement added.
Watch Trump sign the executive order below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.