Minnesota House rejects banning transgender athletes from girls sports
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The Minnesota House of Representatives on Monday rejected a bill that would have banned transgender athletes from competing on girls sports teams.
The proposal came to the House floor after it passed on a party-line vote in the GOP-controlled House Education Policy Committee. However, given the current makeup of the whole House — 67 Republicans and 66 DFLers, and 68 votes needed to pass legislation — the bill had been expected to fail. It did so along party lines.
GOP lawmakers, though, used the Monday debate to press the case that the bill was needed to prevent trans athletes from gaining an unfair advantage in women’s sports.
Bill sponsor Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover, has said the legislation was “about preserving girls sports for females.”
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“We cannot allow our girls to be vulnerable to losing their spot on the team, being on the podium, or to injury by a male teammate or male competitor,” Scott told lawmakers during afternoon debate on the bill. “That is not safe and it is not fair for our girls. It is our duty to protect female athletes in the state of Minnesota.”
Trans athletes and coaches, LGBTQ+ advocates and DFL lawmakers pushed back, saying the bill would discriminate against trans women and girls and could pose problems with enforcement.
"This legislation, by design, invites any person to demand a sex check for any girl athlete whenever they feel like it. It is not a simple bill,” Rep. Julie Greene, DFL-Edina, said during bill debate Monday.
“Where’s the oversight? There is none ... so how does this work? Who handles it when there is a sex check from a spectator? The 14-year-old ref? The dad coach? The head pastor?” she added. “This bill creates a path for intense scrutiny and harassment for the 200,000 Minnesota girls who currently play sports ages 5 to 18. This bill puts all girls at risk."
The bill came before the House as state and federal authorities continue to wrangle over Minnesota’s position on the matter.
The Minnesota High School League has allowed students to participate on teams that best align with their gender identity for 10 years. Supporters say it’s worked without incident for a decade.
A recent executive order by President Donald Trump, however, banned transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls sports. Federal officials are pressuring the state to comply with Trump’s executive order. That includes investigating the high school league policy.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says Minnesota human rights law lets transgender athletes compete in sports consistent with their gender identity and that the state law supersedes Trump’s executive order.
The House GOP bill mirrored Trump’s order. It would have barred student athletes from competing on women and girls school athletic teams unless they have “a reproductive system that at some point produces, transports, and utilizes eggs for fertilization.”
Rep. Leigh Finke, the first openly transgender person elected to the House, told the House chamber the GOP bill was seeking to solve a problem that didn’t exist.
“We haven’t heard a single piece of testimony in committee or on the floor of an actual problem being caused by trans girls in sports,” said Finke, DFL-St. Paul. “There’s been a lot of feelings. A lot of people are nervous. A lot of parents think it might be bad for kids. But you know what we haven’t heard? A single person saying this happened on my kid’s team and it’s a problem.”
While it’s not known how many transgender athletes play sports in Minnesota, a recent statewide student survey found less than 3 percent of Minnesota ninth graders identified as transgender. Of those, less than 30 percent participate in sports on a weekly basis.
Supporters, opponents rally ahead of the vote
Republicans held a rally Monday with swimmer and activist Riley Gaines ahead of the floor vote.
"Minnesota, for too long, has turned its back on women and girls,” Gaines told those gathered. “The concept of gender identity and the reality of sex are in direct conflict with each other. You cannot protect the rights of girls to play fair and safe sport and also protect the boy who wants to take their place on the team."
LGBTQ+ advocates held a press conference Monday afternoon, and then held a rally outside of the House chamber before the vote, holding signs in support of transgender athletes and chanting things like "we love trans kids" and "trans rights are human rights."
Beth Grommesh of St. Louis Park has a son who transitioned in middle school and identifies with he/they pronouns. They were able to participate in Ultimate Frisbee in high school and the experience helped them feel more like themselves and build a sense of community.
"That's what we should be doing, is allowing kids to play," Grommesh said. "Now, they would not describe themselves as an athlete, but they were still on the team, and they loved it, and they chose that team, they chose the boys team, and they were able to have a sense of community and belonging, and it was affirming to them.
Regardless of the outcome of the House vote Monday, the DFL-led Minnesota Senate was unlikely to bring the GOP bill up for a vote, although it could become part of later conversations on education spending and policy proposals.
Senate Education Committee Chair Steve Cwodzinski, DFL-Eden Prairie, told members he had no plans to hold a hearing in his panel this year. The proposal could emerge as a floor amendment when other education proposals are brought up for consideration.