Minnesota lawmakers advance trans athlete ban bill as state faces investigation for defying Trump order
The bill, HF12, also known as the "Preserving Girls' Sports Act," states "only female students may participate in an elementary or secondary school level athletic team or sport that an educational institution has restricted to women and girls."
Many of the guest speakers in attendance shared the experiences of girls who have been physically and emotionally affected by trans athletes in sports.
A woman named Leanna Chambers shared the story of her 11-year-old daughter suffering a broken wrist after she was knocked down by a male.
"I hope there needs to be no more broken bones to show this is a broken system," said Leanna Chambers.
A Minnesota girls' volleyball player cited her friends' experience on the U.S. national volleyball team.
"My good friend was on the USA volleyball team last summer. She told me, quote, 'I sat behind the 6'4" man serving the volleyball and thought, "I could never receive that."' My friend is a 6'3" guard," she said. "What is the point of girls and boys teams if males can play on girls-only teams? Members, fellow Minnesotans, this isn't easy for me."
However, Democrats in attendance argued the rule would promote transgender discrimination. Minnesota state Rep. Alex Falconer preached this sentiment.
"Apparently, any parent, coach, person in the stands can call to question somebody's gender, somebody's sex, and remove them from the court," Falconer said. "This bill denies kids the opportunity to find their purpose, to find their place in schools, denies them to find the team they can identify with, causes significant mental damage when this group of people already face disproportionally higher mental health issues leading to societal ideation and suicidal attempts. This is a dangerous bill. … It's going to lead toward discrimination and harm."
After passing through the Education Policy Committee, the bill will now go to Minnesota's House of Representatives for a floor vote.
If it passes there, it will go to Gov. Tim Walz's desk. However, Walz, is a passionate advocate for trans rights.
Walz's daughter Hope Walz recently went viral on social media for a series of TikTok videos of her slamming President Donald Trump's recent executive order that bans trans athletes from girls and women's sports.
The Minnesota State High School League announced Feb. 7 that it would not be following Trump's "No Men in Women's Sports" executive order that bans trans inclusion from women's sports. Minnesota joined California, Maine and other Democrat-run states in defying Trump on the issue after the order was signed Feb. 5.
The U.S. Department of Education recently launched Title IX investigations into the Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation for refusing to comply with Trump on the issue.
"The Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want, but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law," said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
"(The Office of Civil Rights') Chicago and San Francisco regional offices will conduct directed investigations into both organizations to ensure that female athletes in these states are treated with the dignity, respect and equality that the Trump administration demands. I would remind these organizations that history does not look kindly on entities and states that actively opposed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws that protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment."
The DOE added that state laws do not override federal anti-discrimination laws, so the associations are subject to investigations.
In California, state lawmakers have already introduced two bills to protect girls sports with similar purposes to the one that is being weighed in Minnesota.
Meanwhile, Minnesota's blue state neighbor Wisconsin has complied with Trump's order.
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) announced Wednesday an update to its policies that stated only athletes "designated as females at birth" would be allowed to compete in girls sports, despite previously allowing trans athletes in girls sports dating back to 2013.
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