Minnesota AG says state lawsuit against Trump administration aims to protect trans youth
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says a state lawsuit against the Trump administration intends to protect transgender children.
Ellison on Tuesday provided details of the lawsuit in a noon news conference at the State Capitol.
CBS News Minnesota
will be streaming a replay of his remarks at 12:30 p.m. Watch in the live player above.
According to Ellison, the lawsuit is an attempt to prevent the U.S. Department of Justice from filing a civil lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Education.
Last week, the
DOJ sued Maine's education department
for "discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women's sports" in what U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged is a violation of Title IX.
"The Department of Justice will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports," Bondi said. "This is about sports, this is also about these young women's personal safety."
The federal government said in its lawsuit filed in Maine's federal court that the state's Department of Education is "openly and defiantly flouting anti-discrimination law by enforcing policies that require girls to compete against boys in athletic competitions designated exclusively for girls," arguing that the practice violates Title IX's "core protections." It cited three examples of boys participating in girls' sports.
Bondi added that the DOJ's actions in Maine could be followed by moves in other states, including Minnesota.
"We're looking at Minnesota, we're looking at California," Bondi said. "We're looking at many, many states, but they are the top two that should be on notice."
Bondi
previously sent letters
to Ellison and Erich Martens, director of the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), warning them "Minnesota should be on notice," and her department "will hold accountable states and state entities that violate federal law."
In February, President Trump
signed an executive order
banning transgender girls and women from competing on
sports teams
that match their gender identity. In that order, Trump mandated that Title IX be interpreted as prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating in female sports. Title IX is a federal law that bans sex discrimination in schools.
Ellison announced the president's ban was
in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act
after the MSHSL turned to his office for legal opinion following its announcement on Feb. 7 that
it wouldn't comply with the order
, citing the state law.
While testifying before the U.S. Congress in December 2024, NCAA President Charlie Baker said he was aware of "less than 10" transgender athletes among the more than half a million student-athletes governed by the organization.
This story will be updated.
Jacob Rosen
and
Kaia Hubbard
contributed to this report.
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