The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on Wednesday that it has launched directed investigations into the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) for their plans to allow male athletes to compete in women’s sports and use women’s intimate facilities.
The investigations come in response to the organizations’ public statements indicating their intent to violate federal antidiscrimination laws, including Title IX, which guarantees equal opportunities for female athletes.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said that while states and organizations are free to advocate for their policies, they must comply with federal law.
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“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,” Trainor said. “OCR’s 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.”
Trainor also issued a warning to organizations that defy federal civil rights protections. “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,” he added.
The investigations are part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to enforce Title IX and protect women’s sports. President Trump’s Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports Executive Order, signed earlier this year, mandates that educational programs depriving women and girls of fair athletic opportunities risk losing federal funding.
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“It is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities,” the order states. It also directs federal agencies to take “all appropriate action to affirmatively protect all-female athletic opportunities and all-female locker rooms and thereby provide the equal opportunity guaranteed by Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.”
The probes into MSHSL and CIF follow similar investigations launched last week into San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for alleged Title IX violations. OCR has also begun reviewing athletic participation policies at numerous schools nationwide to ensure compliance with federal law.
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Both Minnesota and California have state laws permitting athletes to compete on teams aligned with their gender identity, regardless of biological sex. However, OCR has made it clear that state laws do not override federal antidiscrimination statutes.
“State laws do not override federal anti-discrimination laws, and these entities and their member schools remain subject to Title IX and its implementing regulations,” OCR stated in a release.
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