‘We will not allow girls to be denied equal opportunity and basic privacy,’ Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said.
Federal officials on March 30 sued Minnesota over a policy that lets some boys who identify as girls participate in girls’ sports.
The Trump administration said in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Minnesota, that the policy violates Title IX, a 1972 law aimed at preventing discrimination on the basis of sex.
“Because Minnesota receives over three billion dollars in federal funding annually, Title IX requires Minnesota to provide equal opportunities for all students,” the complaint stated. “Yet Minnesota prioritizes gender ideology over biological reality, which means boys claim championships, break records, and invade spaces that rightfully belong to girls.”
Minnesota high schools frequently offer girls the opportunity to play on teams with other females only, including basketball, gymnastics, and soccer teams.
The Minnesota Human Rights Act, however, prohibits discrimination due to “gender identity” and enables males who identify as females to join girls’ teams. Under that law, transgender-identifying boys have been playing in female sports.
Federal officials warned Minnesota authorities, including the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota State High School League, in 2025 that continuing to let boys play on girls’ sports teams would likely lead to a lawsuit. Minnesota officials declined to alter their policies.
“The Trump Administration does not tolerate flawed state policies that ignore biological reality and unfairly undermine girls on the playing field,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on Monday.
“We will not allow girls to be denied equal opportunity and basic privacy,” added Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Title IX is clear: schools that accept federal funding must protect the rights, safety, and dignity of female students.”
Plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction that would force Minnesota to stop letting males compete in female athletic competitions, maintain intimate spaces such as bathrooms segregated by sex, and update rules, policies, and guidance to comply with Title IX.
