Two federal Title IX investigations have been launched after a Minnesota girls’ softball team with a male player, who identifies as a “girl,” won the state championship.
The Champlin Park High School softball team defeated an all-female team for the win.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will be “elevating its Title IX investigations into the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) to the Title IX Special Investigations Team (Title IX SIT), which is comprised of both the Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice.”
In a press release about the investigations, the DOE said:
“In February, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened a Title IX investigation into MSHSL over its stated intentions to flout federal law and instead follow state policies which allow student-athletes to compete in sports based on their ‘gender identity.’ On June 3, OCR opened a Title IX investigation into the Minnesota Department of Education after receiving a complaint alleging that MDE has policies which permit males to participate in female sports and occupy female-only intimate facilities. Both investigations are today being elevated to the Title IX SIT.”
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights initially launched its investigation into MSHSL in February, after President Donald Trump announced his executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The league responded that they would not be complying and will continue allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports.
“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,” MSHSL said in a statement at the time. “Therefore, students in Minnesota are allowed to participate consistent with their gender identity.”
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon called the refusal to comply “completely unacceptable.”
“The Trump Administration has a duty to protect women and girls and uphold federal civil rights, and I am pleased to partner with Attorney General Pam Bondi to elevate the Department’s investigations in Minnesota to the Title IX Special Investigations Team,” said McMahon. “Minnesota’s continued indifference to females’ civil rights is completely unacceptable. We must ensure women and girls are not stripped of their hard-earned accolades or subjected to the danger and indignity of unfair competitions, and we will fight to restore antidiscrimination protections under Title IX to the fullest extent of the law.”
This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit
