The Trump administration has prioritized its investigation into Minnesota’s transgender-athlete policies after a male-born pitcher powered the Minnesota girls’ softball team to a state title.
The Department of Education said Thursday that its probe of Minnesota’s policies on transgender athletes in girls’ scholastic sports has been elevated to the Title IX Special Investigations Team, which includes investigators from the Department of Justice.
“This action follows a development this past weekend in Minnesota, where a male athlete from Champlin Park High School competing in a girls’ MSHSL softball match dominated the competition, leading Champlin to a state championship,” the Department of Education said in a press release.
Last weekend, 17-year-old junior Marissa Rothenberger carried Champlin Park to a Minnesota State High School League 4A softball championship, pitching five straight complete games and giving up just one earned run in 35 total innings.
President Trump signed an executive order Feb. 5 threatening to defund states that allow biological males in female scholastic sports, but the league said it would adhere instead to the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on gender identity.
“Therefore, students in Minnesota are allowed to participate consistent with their gender identity,” the MSHSL said in a Feb. 6 statement. “League Member Schools have done excellent work in respecting students and their individual situations as they determine their participation and eligibility within interscholastic sports.”
A week later, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened a Title IX investigation into the MSHSL. Last month, the investigation was expanded to include the Minnesota Department of Education.
“The Trump Administration has a duty to protect women and girls and uphold federal civil rights, and I am pleased to partner with Attorney General Pam Bondi to elevate the Department’s investigations in Minnesota to the Title IX Special Investigations Team,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.
She added that “Minnesota’s continued indifference to females’ civil rights is completely unacceptable.”
The department has recognized June as “Title IX Month” in an apparent dig at Pride Month, the LGBTQ celebration.
Marissa landed on the transgender-athlete radar after Reduxx reported April 30 that the sex designation on the athlete’s birth certificate was changed at age 9 from “male” to “female,” and the name changed from “Charlie Dean” to “Marissa.”
Marissa has not publicly acknowledged being transgender.
Female Athletes United sued Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and other state officials last month on behalf of three anonymous female softball players, accusing the state of violating Title IX by allowing a “male athlete” to compete against girls.
The Education and Justice departments joined forces in April to grapple with “a staggering volume” of Title IX complaints, forming the Title IX Special Investigations Team to expedite reviews and enforcement.
Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans educational institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating based on sex.
Last year, the Biden administration added “gender identity” to Title IX, but the Trump administration has moved to vacate the change and specify that the federal government recognizes only two sexes, male and female.
Mr. Ellison argued in a Feb. 20 legal analysis that the president’s executive order “does not have the force of law and cannot supersede Minnesota state law.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.