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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison responded to dozens of school board members urging the state to keep biological males out of women’s sports by saying the issue “doesn’t hurt anyone.”
A letter written by more than 40 school board members expressing support for policy revisions to enforce Title IX and protect women’s sports prompted Ellison’s response this week.
“Allowing a very small number of transgender students in Minnesota to play on their school’s sports teams doesn’t hurt anyone, but segregating them does,” part of Ellison’s statement read.
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Ellison said this even though several high school athletes in her state have spoken out about how the experience of facing trans athletes has impacted them, and some have even filed a lawsuit over the issue.
Three unnamed Minnesota high school girls filed a lawsuit against the state’s education agencies in the spring after having to compete against a transgender softball pitcher.
One of the plaintiffs previously told Pak Gazette Digital what it was like to play against the trans pitcher.
“This issue has affected me in ways I never imagined. It’s just unfair and I hate that nothing is happening to change that. Boys shouldn’t be able to take girls’ spots on teams just because they’re capable of doing so. I hope more girls affected by this issue confront this.” said the player.
Another anonymous player directly criticized Ellison for supporting policies that have allowed the trans pitcher to play against women.
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Champlin Park and Eagan players shake hands after the quarterfinal round of the Minnesota Women’s Softball State Tournament. (Amber Harding/OutKick)
“It’s really disturbing to know that [Ellison] does not take the rights of girls and women seriously. You are allowing boys to compete with girls, and that is unsafe and completely unfair. “To know that AG Ellison fully supports allowing boys and men to take advantage of women in sports is absolutely disgusting and wrong,” an anonymous player previously told Pak Gazette Digital.
Former White Bear Lake High School softball player Kendall Kotzmacher previously told Pak Gazette Digital that losing to the trans pitcher in the state tournament left her in tears.
“How do you recognize that you lost to a biological man? How do you process those events that happened? And that was something all night, I still couldn’t do it…we lost to a biological man in a girls state tournament,” Kotzmacher said.
Minnesota educational agencies face a deadline U.S. Department of Education Friday to change its policies for trans athletes. President Donald Trump signed the “Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order in February, but Minnesota was one of the first states to openly defy the order.
Ellison then filed a lawsuit against Trump and the Justice Department over the executive order, and appears adamantly opposed to meeting the DOE’s Friday deadline.
Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday announced a $60.5 million settlement with e-cigarette company Juul and tobacco giant Altria. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)
“The exclusion is a violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Law, which has protected the rights of trans children to participate in all extracurricular activities for decades,” Ellison’s statement continued.
“I, too, am concerned about the Trump Administration’s threats to cut funding for children’s education throughout Minnesota, but this matter is before the courts right now. The federal government’s threats violate the U.S. Constitution, Minnesota law, and Title IX itself. I am fighting to prevent these harmful cuts, stop the Administration’s harassment of transgender children who just want to live their lives in peace, and protect the rights and freedoms of all of our students in Minnesota.”
