Minnesota Sues Trump Over Transgender Sports Policy

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has filed a preemptive lawsuit against the Trump administration, challenging executive orders that seek to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports. Ellison argues that the Trump administration's actions, including threats to withhold education funding, violate the constitutional separation of powers and Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. The lawsuit comes after similar federal action was taken against Maine and amid warnings that Minnesota and California could be targeted next. Minnesota's Human Rights Act has protected transgender rights since 1993, and recent state laws have further established it as a refuge for transgender youth. The debate has become prominent nationally, with the Trump administration asserting only two genders and critics, including biologists, emphasizing the complexity and spectrum of gender. Ellison contends that the state's protections supersede federal executive orders and aims to prevent what he describes as the administration's bullying of vulnerable children.