Transgender athletes in Minnesota can play sports matching gender identity despite Trump order, MSHSL says
MINNEAPOLIS — Transgender student-athletes in Minnesota will continue to be able to participate in school sports consistent with their gender identity despite an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, state high school sports officials say.
The order, which Trump signed on Wednesday, bans transgender girls and women from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. Schools that don't comply with his order risk losing federal funding and could face legal action.
The Minnesota State High School League, however, says their organization is "subject to state anti-discrimination laws, which prohibit discrimination based on gender identity."
Participation and eligibility of transgender student-athletes is determined by the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the Minnesota Constitution, MSHSL said in a statement on Thursday.
The Minnesota Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination of many kinds in many places — including education — based on protected class, such as sexual orientation and gender identity.
"It is very clear in our Minnesota Human Rights Act that we do not separate out and remove trans people from our lived experiences of society," said DFL Rep. Leigh Finke. "I cannot overstate what it feels like to be a member of a community who is seeing our rights removed."
Republican lawmakers in the Minnesota House and Senate have introduced bills that mirror Trump's executive order, which if passed could go into effect on July 1. The measure is unlikely to pass in the DFL-controlled Senate and would face a difficult path in the House, where Republicans have a one-seat majority until a special election in March.
The MSHSL said it will "continue to review the existing state laws alongside the new Presidential Executive Order and its timeline, processes for states, and requirements that are included."
In the wake of the order, the NCAA updated their participation policy to say that competition in women's sports is limited to student-athletes assigned female at birth only. While testifying before Congress in December, 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 NCAA.
Note: The above video first aired on Feb. 5, 2025.