The 2026 legislative session is just around the corner, so it seems like an opportune time for us all to get back up to speed on what is happening in Minnesota around Title IX and protecting girls’ sports. Over the last year or so, I’ve had more conversations than I can count with reporters, parents, and folks around the district who don’t quite understand how we got here or why Minnesota is now under a federal microscope. My goal is to lay this out clearly, without getting lost in the weeds, because we all need to make sense of the stakes and what might happen next.
Title IX is the federal civil rights law passed in 1972. It says if a school or education program takes federal money, it cannot discriminate on the basis of sex. It exists for a very simple reason: to make sure girls and women have equal opportunities in education and athletics.
It has been one of the most successful civil rights laws our country has adopted. Girls’ sports exist as we know them because of Title IX. Fair competition exists because of Title IX. This issue is deeply personal for me, as I am part of the first generation of girls who were able to participate in high school athletics thanks to Title IX. It was formative for me, as it has been for countless other girls.
State leaders like Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Democrats in the legislature have threatened Minnesota’s compliance with Title IX rules by allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports. The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services issued multiple warnings, but because the state refuses to take corrective action, the matter has now been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice for enforcement. It has put billions of dollars of federal education funding for Minnesota at risk.
Why did this issue escalate so quickly? In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature added the term “gender identity” to the state’s Human Rights Act. This change, along with other transgender-focused policies, created downstream consequences that have put the Minnesota State High School League into conflict with federal civil rights law.
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in two consolidated cases about protecting girls’ sports by keeping girls’ teams for girls only. The final ruling likely won’t be until spring or summer, but several justices signaled skepticism toward policies that erase the line between boys’ and girls’ athletics. Reading the coverage of those arguments, I am incredibly optimistic the Court will side with the numerous parents, coaches, and athletes who believe fairness in girls’ sports must be preserved.
What’s especially notable here is that major institutions are already acting while Minnesota is falling behind. International Olympic bodies, the NCAA, and other governing organizations have taken steps to protect women’s and girls’ categories in sports. We are an outlier, and not in a good way.
Now is the time to fix it. When the new legislative session begins, I will introduce the Preserving Girls’ Sports Act. I offered a version of this proposal as an amendment to the Senate’s education policy bill in 2025, but it was rejected on a party-line vote.
I was disappointed by that outcome because my bill really is common sense. It does three things:
1: It says schools must clearly identify sports teams as either boys, girls, or coed;
2: It designates girls’ teams for participants who were biological females at birth;
3: It instructs the Minnesota State High School League to align its policies with state law.
That’s it.
You will probably hear a lot of noise and misrepresentation of my bill from fringe activists, but this bill is about three simple principles: fairness, safety, and honesty. It is the right thing to do, and I hope it will be bipartisan.