Minnesota lawmaker calls bill banning trans athletes from women's sports 'state sanctioned genocide'
"And I don't say that lightly," Rep. Liish Kozlowski, who identifies as "non-binary," said on the Minnesota State Capitol's House floor.
The representative also claimed to be the "only two-spirit" representative in Minnesota and the U.S.
"Problematic bills like HF12, a bill to bully trans and non-binary kids… It's not about fairness in sports, it's about erasing trans girls, non-binary, and two-spirit kids and people from public life," "I can assure you that our children will not stop being transgender just because you try to remove us from sports," Kozlowski said.
The bill did not pass as it needed 68 votes and was struck down along party lines in a 67-66 resulting vote.
The representative also called the proposal, formally titled the "Preserving Girls' Sports Act," "a bill to bully trans girls and non-binary kids."
"As politicians and unelected billionaires from the White House to here in the Minnesota House, we're seeing this doubling down of efforts in an agenda of division of stoking fear, of stoking harm on our communities," Kozlowski said.
The measure HF12, sponsored by Republican Rep. Peggy Scott, defines "female" to mean that a female is "biologically determined by genetics and defined with respect to an individual's reproductive system."
"We cannot allow our girls to be vulnerable to losing their spot on the team, being on the podium, or to injury by a male teammate or male competitor," Scott said.
"That is not safe and that is not fair to our girls," she added.
Minnesota lawmakers' clash over HF12 comes after President Donald Trump signed the "No Men in Women's Sports" executive order, fulfilling one of his major campaign promises of keeping biological men out of girls' and women's sports.
After Trump's executive order, the Minnesota State High School League reportedly announced that they are defying federal law by allowing transgender athletes to continue playing in women's sports.
Per the Minnesota Attorney General's office, the Minnesota State High School League's decision to allow transgender athletes to participate in women's sports does not violate the state's constitution. If they were to ban transgender athletes from women's sports, it would violate the Minnesota Human Rights Act in the state's constitution.
The Minnesota Attorney General's Office stated that "based on the plain language of the statute, educational institutions and the Minnesota State High School League would violate the MHRA by prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in extracurricular activities consistent with their gender identity."
Furthermore, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a warning to California, Maine and Minnesota to comply with the federal anti-discrimination laws that require them to keep boys out of women's sports. States defying federal law could face legal action.
Kozlowski did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
20 minutes ago
- Fox News
'We are bullish about the future because America is back,' says Mike Johnson
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., touts the successes of the Trump administration so far this term on 'One Nation.'
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Oklahoma state superintendent under investigation after board members report seeing naked women on his office TV
Oklahoma's controversial state superintendent is under investigation after state Board of Education members alleged they saw images of naked women on his office's television during a closed meeting last Thursday. State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the fiery Republican pick leading one of the nation's lowest-ranked education systems, was in the middle of a meeting during an executive session of the Oklahoma State Board of Education when images of naked women allegedly popped up on his television screen, two board members told The Oklahoman. 4 Pictures of naked women were allegedly seen on a television behind Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters during a meeting last Thursday. BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images One of the board members said she could barely believe what she was seeing. 'And I was like, 'Those are naked women'. And then I was like, 'No, wait a minute. Those aren't naked, surely those aren't naked women. Something is playing a trick on my eye. Maybe they just have on tan body suits. This is just really bizarre',' board member Becky Carson told the outlet. 'I saw them just walking across the screen, and I'm like, 'No.' I'm sorry I even have to use this language, but I'm like, 'Those are her nipples.' And then I'm like, 'That's pubic hair.' What in the world am I watching? I didn't watch a second longer. I was so disturbed by it, I was like, 'What is on your TV?' I was very stern, like I'd been a mother or a classroom teacher. And I said, 'What am I watching? Turn it off now!'' Ryan Deatherage, another board member, added that Walters was sitting with his back to the television, so he wasn't able to see the alleged X-rated video in the moment. 4 Walters has denied all allegations about the situation — calling them 'falsehoods.' DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images 'I am in shock and I'm not wanting to distract them. I'm trying to listen. Quite frankly, I didn't know how to handle it. I was just in shock. I was being human and I didn't know what to think. I kept thinking that it was just going to go away and so I quit watching it,' Deatherage told the outlet. Carson wound up having to tell Walters about the lewd images lingering on the screen behind him, which he then shut off without any explanation or apology. Walters later issued a statement Sunday denying all claims as 'categorically false.' 4 Two Oklahoma Board of Education members claimed that Walters offered no apology or explanation for the bizarre images. AP 'These falsehoods are the desperate tactics of a broken establishment afraid of real change. They aren't just attacking me, they're attacking the values of the Oklahomans who elected me to challenge the status quo. I will not be distracted. My focus remains on making Oklahoma the best state in the nation, in every category,' Walters said. Other members of the board told the outlet that while they didn't see the images themselves, Walters appeared 'shook up' and 'flustered or embarrassed' by whatever Carson pointed out. Walters, a staunch conservative, has previously made national headlines for his stances and policies in Oklahoma schools. He repeatedly sought to enforce strict rules about what's permitted inside the classroom, including restrictions against LGBTQ+ students that have come under fire from critics on the left. 4 Walters is best known for the anti-LGBTQ+ policies he's put forward, along with other rules loosening restrictions on Christian education in public schools. DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images At the same time, he's loosened prohibitions on the separation of church and state by requiring the Bible to be taught in public schools as a 'historical document.' Deatherage and Carson said Walters should hold himself to the same standards he enforces on educators, noting that the board has 'suspended teaching certificates for less than this.' It's unclear who may have been responsible for the racy images and why they were bizarrely featured on the government office's system. The investigation into the incident is being led by the Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Republicans plan to use threat of third Trump impeachment as key issue to boost their standing in midterm races
Republican strategists say they plan to make a major midterm talking point from the threat of a third impeachment against Donald Trump that could come if Democrats retake the House. 'We know what the stakes are in the midterm elections,' John McLaughlin, a Trump pollster, told NBC News. 'If we don't succeed, Democrats will begin persecuting President Trump again. They would go for impeachment.' Right now, Republicans hold an eight-seat advantage in the House, walling the president off from a third impeachment, but that could change if the Democrats surge in 2026, as the president's party typically suffers during midterm elections. Still, according to Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who led the party's second impeachment against Trump over the January 6 insurrection, the Democrats themselves plan to focus more on what they see as the president's 'terrible agenda.' 'We've already impeached him twice,' Raskin told NBC. 'So obviously that's not a complete solution, given that he is able to beat the two-thirds constitutional spread. So I don't think anybody thinks that's going to be the utopian solution to our problems.' Both House impeachments — first for an alleged offer of quid pro quo with Ukraine to go after Joe Biden, then for the Capitol riot — did not have enough votes to secure convictions in the Senate. During the second Trump administration, the president has continued to face attempts to initiate new impeachment trials, including from Michigan Democrat Shri Thanedar in the spring and a June effort over the administration's Iran strikes, though none of these have come to pass. Impeachments may not be coming any time soon, but Republicans face a variety of other risks to their three-party majority control of the federal government. The president's job approval rating has dipped to 37 percent, according to Gallup, the lowest of this term and just above Trump's lowest-ever approval rating, driven by hemorrhaging support from independent voters. A majority of Americans also oppose his signature One Big, Beautiful Bill, which contains a series of tax cuts and restrictions on social programs like Medicaid. The party also continues to face fallout and internal division over the White House's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files scandal, in which Trump and his allies campaigned on releasing materials related to the notorious financier's sexual misconduct, only to backtrack as more information concerning Epstein and Trump's long-time friendship came to light. The president has lashed out at his own base for seeking information about the scandal, which he calls a Democratic 'hoax,' while House Speaker Mike Johnson effectively ended business in the lower house until after its upcoming summer recess to avoid Democratic amendments calling for the release of the files. Meanwhile, former White House ally (and GOP mega-donor) Elon Musk has vowed to form his own political party, in the face of disagreements with the Trump administration over spending policy and the Epstein saga. There could also be blowback to economic conditions if the Trump administration's repeatedly delayed double-digit tariffs take full effect on major U.S. trading partners.
