Latest news with #MSHSL
CBS News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Investigations into Minnesota's transgender athlete policy "elevated" by U.S. Department of Education
The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday it is elevating investigations into Minnesota's policy on transgender athletes. The department in February opened an investigation into the Minnesota State High School League for allowing transgender student-athletes to compete in sports consistent with their "gender identity." The agency says it opened a new civil rights investigation this month into MSHSL and the Minnesota Department of Education. A June 3 complaint accuses the state of allowing males to compete in female sports and share facilities. "Minnesota's continued indifference to females' civil rights is completely unacceptable," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said. The U.S. Department of Education says the decision to elevate both cases to the Title IX special investigations team was made concerning a player participating in the Minnesota state softball tournament. In response to the announcement, Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Willie Jett said the department "remains committed to ensuring every child has the opportunity to thrive in safe, supportive school communities as their authentic selves." WCCO has reached out to MSHSL for comment. The first investigation started after MSHSL made an announcement saying it would not be following an executive order signed by President Trump banning transgender girls and women from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. The order, titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," mandates that Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in schools, be interpreted as prohibiting the participation of transgender girls and women in female sports. Schools that don't comply with the order risk losing federal funding and could face legal action. Last month, a Texas-based nonprofit filed a lawsuit in federal court against several Minnesota agencies, including MSHSL, for their transgender athlete policies. In April, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming the president's two executive orders targeting transgender youth and adults violate both the U.S. Constitution and Title IX. The lawsuit requests the court declare the orders unconstitutional and unlawful, Ellison said. Note: The video above originally aired May 20, 2025. contributed to this report.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Biles, Gaines clash over MN trans softball star as MSHSL defies Trump's order
Biles, Gaines clash over MN trans softball star as MSHSL defies Trump's order originally appeared on Bring Me The News. A story that has gained national attention in recent weeks reached a fever pitch on Friday when a transgender girl led her Minnesota high school softball team to a state championship. Bring Me The News has elected to refrain from identifying the teenager despite local and national media, and some elected officials, identifying the high school junior. After the junior pitched every inning of every game (as is typical in high school softball during the tournament) to lead her team to a state championship, the issue served as fuel for a public spat between 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer turned political activist Riley Gaines and 23-time Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles. Gaines, who is against transgender girls competing in female sports, mocked the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) for not accepting comments on its X post featuring the state champion softball team. "Comments off [laugh out loud]," Gaines wrote. "To be expected when your star player is a boy[.]" Biles responded to Gaines: "You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!" Gaines failed to mention that the MSHSL hasn't accepted comments on its X posts for as far back as Bring Me The News can see. However, the MSHSL does allow comments on Facebook posts, but the softball tournament photos shared on X weren't published on Facebook. The league did post photos of student-athletes and championship teams during recent state tournaments for track & field, adapted softball, adapted bowling, robotics, basketball, hockey, swimming and diving, and wrestling. Notably, publishers can turn off comments on individual Facebook posts, so why the MSHSL omitted softball photos from Facebook is unclear. When the pitcher's team clinched a spot in the state tournament last week, U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District, reposted Gaines after she singled out the high school junior — and he did so using his official House Majority Whip account. 'Last night, a team of hardworking female athletes in Minnesota were denied a state title because our state's 'leaders' refuse to stand up for reality, safety, and fairness,' Emmer wrote on X. "This insanity must end." The original post from Gaines named the pitcher, featured video from a game, and referred to the teen as a "man." Gaines, 25, has pursued politics after swimming at the University of Kentucky. In her final competitive swim meet, she tied for fifth place with the University of Pennsylvania's Lia Thomas, who became the first openly trans woman champion in NCAA history. After the race, Gaines told media that she was "in full support of her and full support of her transition and swimming career." Gaines admitted that the transgender opponent was "just abiding by the rules that the NCAA put in place." Since then, Gaines has used the race as a platform to build support from Republican lawmakers in a crusade to ban transgender athletes from youth sports. The NCAA changed its policy in February to limit the participation of transgender women in college sports, in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump. Transgender athletes are allowed to play under Minnesota State High School League bylaws, which has not been altered in response to President Donald Trump's February executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports." The White House executive order states: "In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women's sports. This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports." The MSHSL bylaw states: "In accordance with applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations, the Minnesota State High School League allows participation for all students consistent with their gender identity or expression in an environment free from discrimination with an equal opportunity for participation in athletics and fine arts." A week after Trump signed the executive order, the MSHSL issued a statement saying the order conflicts with the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the state Constitution. The MSHSL asserts that it was not defying the executive order because the order provided a 60-day window to conform. At the time, the league stated that it was "seeking guidance to better understand how to proceed in the future." Despite the cushion to comply, the U.S. Department of Education announced in February that it was investigating the MSHSL, saying, "state laws do not override federal antidiscrimination laws." More than 120 days have passed since Trump signed the order, and it's unclear if the MSHSL will change its bylaws ahead of the 2025-26 school story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on Jun 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Metro softball players sue Ellison, MSHSL director over transgender athlete participation
A lawsuit was filed Monday against Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison, Minnesota State High School League executive director Erich Martens and numerous others by a group representing three metro high school softball athletes centered on the state allowing an athlete to play high school softball who plaintiffs allege was born male. The organization behind the suit is Female Athletes United, which is representing one softball player from Maple Grove and two from Farmington. The suit cites an unfair playing field. The MSHSL voted in 2015 to allow the inclusion of transgender athletes into girls sports. That decision came back under fire on Feb. 5, when President Trump signed an executive order aimed at prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in female sports. At the time, the Minnesota State High School League said the executive order is at odds with the Human Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Minnesota Constitution, which prohibits discrimination 'against any person in any protected class, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity.' The U.S. Department of Education then announced it was launching an investigation into the high school athletic associations in Minnesota and California. Ellison filed a suit against the Trump administration last month, saying in part that the he viewed the President's executive orders as 'bullying' of transgender children. The lawsuit states that Minnesota's policy 'expands opportunities for male athletes to compete and experience victory at the expense of female athletes. Minnesota's female athletes suffer as a result — experiencing fewer opportunities to play, win, advance, and receive recognition in their own. And these female athletes also suffer the mental burden of knowing that their rights are secondary. Their hard work may never be enough to win.' The lawsuit describes the three represented players' interactions with the athlete it alleges to be male as one player's team repeatedly losing to and struggling to score against the pitcher, one pitcher having to compete with the other athlete for playing time on a club team and the third athlete getting hit by a pitch thrown by the alleged male athlete. The suit stated that the athletes didn't believe it was 'fair' that that would have to potentially compete against the alleged male athlete in postseason competition. Section softball tournaments opened across the state this week.
CBS News
22-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Minnesota AG says state lawsuit against Trump administration aims to protect trans youth
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says a state lawsuit against the Trump administration intends to protect transgender children. Ellison on Tuesday provided details of the lawsuit in a noon news conference at the State Capitol. CBS News Minnesota will be streaming a replay of his remarks at 12:30 p.m. Watch in the live player above. According to Ellison, the lawsuit is an attempt to prevent the U.S. Department of Justice from filing a civil lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Education. Last week, the DOJ sued Maine's education department for "discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women's sports" in what U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged is a violation of Title IX. "The Department of Justice will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports," Bondi said. "This is about sports, this is also about these young women's personal safety." The federal government said in its lawsuit filed in Maine's federal court that the state's Department of Education is "openly and defiantly flouting anti-discrimination law by enforcing policies that require girls to compete against boys in athletic competitions designated exclusively for girls," arguing that the practice violates Title IX's "core protections." It cited three examples of boys participating in girls' sports. Bondi added that the DOJ's actions in Maine could be followed by moves in other states, including Minnesota. "We're looking at Minnesota, we're looking at California," Bondi said. "We're looking at many, many states, but they are the top two that should be on notice." Bondi previously sent letters to Ellison and Erich Martens, director of the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), warning them "Minnesota should be on notice," and her department "will hold accountable states and state entities that violate federal law." In February, President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender girls and women from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. In that order, Trump mandated that Title IX be interpreted as prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating in female sports. Title IX is a federal law that bans sex discrimination in schools. Ellison announced the president's ban was in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act after the MSHSL turned to his office for legal opinion following its announcement on Feb. 7 that it wouldn't comply with the order , citing the state law. While testifying before the U.S. Congress in December 2024, NCAA President Charlie Baker said he was aware of "less than 10" transgender athletes among the more than half a million student-athletes governed by the organization. This story will be updated. Jacob Rosen and Kaia Hubbard contributed to this report.
CBS News
24-03-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Parents of Minnesota high school athletes paralyzed in games push lawmakers to up insurance payouts
There was emotional testimony at the Minnesota State Capitol on Monday from parents whose kids suffered life-changing injuries playing the sports they loved. The parents of hockey player Jack Jablonski and football player Ethan Glynn said their sons' injuries wiped them out financially. Glynn was paralyzed in a ninth-grade Bloomington Jefferson football game in 2022. He is now a quadriplegic and requires 24/7 care. His family says they didn't receive anything from the Minnesota High School League (MSHSL) insurance because it didn't cover ninth-grade sports. "If he had been on a JV or varsity team, he would have been covered," said Cassidy Dirk, Glynn's mother. "The cost of paralysis is much more than medical bills. It's life-long care, home modifications, specialized equipment." Jablonski became a quadriplegic in 2011 after being checked from behind during a high school hockey game. Because he was on JV and varsity teams, he did benefit from the MSHSL's $2 million insurance policy. But his father, Mike Jablonski, says he was quickly told that would not begin to cover lifetime expenses. "'He said, 'Oh my God, Mike, your family will be financially ruined in the next 10 to 15 years,'" said Mike Jablonski. The two families are seeking to up the MSHSL's lifetime payout to $10 million, with a $50,000 deductible. The students covered would include athletes, student managers, trainers and cheerleaders. However, the MSHSL says that would be too expensive. "I am here to talk to you about the Minnesota State High School League purchase of insurance and urge you not to adopt the bill," said Renee Corneille, a MSHSL board member. Under questioning from the committee, MSHSL members said they had not priced out a $10 million policy, but a $5 million policy would cost $125,000 more. Committee members seemed stunned. "Not sure in my nine years I have been on such an intellectual, emotional roller coaster ride," said Democratic Sen. Steve Cwodzinski. "I think we should help these families some way," said Republican Sen. Jim Abeler. The sponsor of the bill, Democratic Sen. Scott Dibble, did give credit to the MSHSL for increasing their coverage from $2 million to $3 million, and for now including ninth graders. But he said that does nothing to help these families. Dibble said the amount of coverage for kids now playing high school sports in not enough and simply unacceptable. The bill is expected to move forward at the Capitol.
