Friends and neighbors,

Reprehensibly, the Minnesota Supreme Court’s recent unanimous ruling in the transgender powerlifter case has upended common sense in girls’ athletics. The court found that USA Powerlifting discriminated against JayCee Cooper, a biological male, by barring Cooper from women’s competitions. The court based its decision on the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. This decision threatens the safety of girls and undermines fair play in sports across our state.

As a father of twin daughters who greatly enjoyed their high school sport experiences, it is appalling to see fairness in women’s athletics undermined through this decision. The future of equal and fair female athletics in Minnesota will be over if this ruling is upheld – just as the DFL Party has been pushing for, and now our liberal-leaning Minnesota Supreme Court agrees with them.

Women and girls deserve athletic opportunities that are fair and safe. Yet in Minnesota, the policy adopted by the Minnesota State High School League allows students to change their “gender identity” and compete in sports consistent with their self-declared “gender identity of the day.” This means biological males may participate on girls’ teams, creating an uneven playing field. This Democrat-backed effort has got to end, if we want fair and safe girls’ sports in Minnesota. This isn’t a game – enough is enough!

Minnesota has already seen the consequences of this policy. At the 2025 Class AAAA girls’ softball state championship, a team with a male pitcher won the title. High school players from Maple Grove and Farmington have filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that the state’s policy violates Title IX and denies girls the chance to compete on equal footing. It should be common sense that biological boys should not compete in girls’ sports.

We have also seen DFL Governor Walz and Democratic leaders continue to put political ideology above common sense and fairness for girls’ sports. That is why I joined my Republican colleagues last session in pushing for the Preserving Girls’ Sports Act. Unfortunately, every Senate Democrat continues to block this critical legislation from even being considered in committee or debated on the Senate floor.

I urge parents, coaches, and school leaders across Minnesota to push back and speak up louder to support restoring fairness in girls’ athletics. The fight is far from over, and we need to work tirelessly to ensure that Minnesota girls have equal and safe opportunities to compete in girls’ sports. Time to put an end to these insane policies that allow biological males to use the guise of a “transgender conversion” as a way to infiltrate women’s sports.

Sincerely,

Senator Torrey Westrom SD12