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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration and Department of Justice on Tuesday to ensure that states can continue letting biologically male trans athletes play in girls’ sports.
The White House has responded to the lawsuit, condemning Ellison for taking legal action to enable trans inclusion.
“Why would a grown man sue the Trump administration to allow other biological males to participate in women’s sports? This is creepy and anti-woman,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital.
Ellison made the announcement at a press conference after months of the state defying Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order. Ellison claimed he had received notice from the Department of Justice threatening legal action if the state did not follow the executive order.
“I’m not going to sit around waiting for the Trump administration to sue Minnesota. Today, Minnesota is suing him and his administration because we will not participate in this shameful bullying,” Ellison said. “We will not let a small group of vulnerable children who are only trying be healthy and live their lives be demonized.”
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Ellison’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, argues that the Trump administration does not have the authority to set states’ athletic gender eligibility policies through an executive order.
Minnesota is the first state to sue the Department of Justice over threats to cut funding for letting trans athletes play in girls’ sports, and the second state to sue the Trump administration over the issue.
Maine has filed a lawsuit against Trump after the Department of Agriculture cut funding to the state on April 2, and a federal judge has already ruled the USDA must unfreeze the funding.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the state for its ongoing defiance of Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order. Maine has faced federal pressure in the last two months over its refusal to comply, including two federal investigations, a funding freeze and now a lawsuit.
When Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the lawsuit against Maine at a press conference last week, she said Minnesota and California could be next.
“We’re looking at Minnesota. We’re looking at California. We’re looking at many, many states but they are the top two that should be on notice because we’ve been communicating with them,” Bondi said.
After Trump’s executive order, the Minnesota State High School League announced it would defy federal law by allowing transgender athletes to continue playing in women’s sports.
Ellison’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.”
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Minnesota’s state legislature failed to pass the “Preserving Girls’ Sports Act” in early March, which would have stated that “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.”
The bill fell short in the state’s House of Representatives, with 67 of the 68 votes needed to pass. Gov. Tim Walz was expected to veto the bill had it gone to his desk.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a DNC press conference on July 17, 2024. (Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
Former Minnesota Vikings and University of Minnesota football player Jack Brewer lobbied for the bill, and had told Fox News Digital he found Walz’s pro-trans stances “disgusting,” especially considering Walz was a football coach at Mankato West High School in the 1990s.
“It’s absolutely disgusting, and it’s why, when you see him and you see his mannerisms and the way he carries himself, you know this guy doesn’t appeal to real men and boys who have battled it out on the gridiron, man. I have nothing in common with this guy,” Brewer said.
“I think he’s a disgrace to the football world to be honest.”
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A New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don’t think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sports.
Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democratic, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
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