Minnesota Title IX investigation escalates after Champlin Park softball championship

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2 days ago

The Brief
The U.S. Department of Education is escalating its Title IX investigation into Minnesota after the Champlin Park girls softball team won a state championship with a transgender pitcher.
Law professor David Schultz says Minnesota and the Trump Administration have very different interpretations of Title IX when it comes to transgender athletes.
Attorney General Keith Ellison is suing the Trump Administration, challenging the executive order that
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The U.S. Department of Education is raising the stakes in its Title IX investigations against the State of Minnesota.
What we know
The federal government announced an investigation into Minnesota earlier this year. A few weeks ago, they launched a second investigation into the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League for allowing transgender athletes to play in women's sports.
Thursday, officials announced they were accelerating the investigation.
Why you should care
This, after the Champlin Park girls softball team garnered national attention. The Rebels just won the Class 4A state championship, led by a star pitcher who is transgender.
The U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice announced Thursday they were elevating their investigations into the Minnesota Department of Education. Federal officials say it's because Champlin Park won the state softball title with a male athlete.
"If we start to look at the state of interpretation of Title IX, it's not completely clear," said David Schultz with the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
Dig deeper
Schultz says Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination and education, is being interpreted very differently by the Trump Administration and the State of Minnesota when it comes to transgender athletes.
"It comes down to the federal courts, including possibly the Supreme Court, to render the final interpretation of what Title IX actually requires or what it means," Schultz said.
The Minnesota State High School League and Department of Education's position is that Minnesota human rights laws ban discrimination based on gender identity, and that it does not conflict with Title IX. The Trump Administration believes Title IX protects women athletes, and transgender athletes violate that protection.
"They're going to have to eventually show that the interpretation of the word sex isn't broad enough to include transgender, and if transgender athletes participate in high school or college sports, their participation actually hurts women, and therefore violates Title IX," Schultz said.
What's next
So where does this go from here? It's now an expedited investigation, with a resolution expected soon. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has an ongoing lawsuit against the Trump Administration, challenging President Trump's executive order banning transgender athletes in women's sports and threatening to pull federal funding to states.
The federal government's response is due by June 26.