The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Minnesota on Monday over the state’s policies allowing transgender-identifying males in women’s sports and spaces.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division specifically filed the suit against the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), alleging that the state has engaged in sex-based discrimination, in violation of Title IX, by allowing males to access female sports teams and intimate facilities based on “gender identity” rather than biological reality.
“The Trump Administration does not tolerate flawed state policies that ignore biological reality and unfairly undermine girls on the playing field,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “This Department of Justice is proud to partner with HHS and the Department of Education to protect our girls in Minnesota and across the country.”
The Department of Education (ED) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concluded in September 2025 that MDE and MSHSL violated Title IX by allowing males to compete in several different sports programs and access female-only intimate facilities, such as bathrooms and locker rooms. The Trump administration proposed a Resolution Agreement to resolve the violations, which Minnesota ultimately declined, according to the Department of Education.
The Trump administration pointed to several specific incidents of males competing on female teams, including a trans-identifying male playing on the Champlin Park High School girls’ varsity fastpitch softball team since 2023, and males competing on the girls’ Alpine ski team, the girls’ Nordic ski team, the girls’ lacrosse team, the girls’ track and field team, and the girls’ volleyball team over the past several years.
“The Justice Department cannot ignore a state’s brazen defiance of federal anti-discrimination law,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement. “In service of radical gender ideology, Minnesota’s actions violate Title IX and deny female athletes their hard-earned trophies, records, dignity, and safety.”
Title IX bars sex discrimination as a condition of receiving federal funding for any education program or activity. The DOJ said Minnesota is receiving $3 billion in federal funding from ED and HHS.
“Because Minnesota receives over three billion dollars in federal funding annually, Title IX requires Minnesota to provide equal opportunities for all students. Yet Minnesota prioritizes gender ideology over biological reality, which means boys claim championships, break records, and invade spaces that rightfully belong to girls,” the complaint alleges.
The DOJ is asking the district court for the right to enforce Title IX as it was intended, to protect women’s sports and spaces.
The case is United States v. Minnesota Department of Education, No. 26-cv-2078 in the U.S. District Court District of Minnesota.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
