Female Athletes Challenge Minnesota Policy Forcing Them to Compete Against Males

A group of female athletes are challenging Minnesota officials’ decision to allow males to compete in women’s sports.

Female Athletes United (FAU) is an organization that is “passionate about advocating for the protection and integrity of female athletics.”

Several female Minnesota high school softball players who have been forced to compete against a male athlete are members of FAU. In fact, the softball team with the male athlete – unsurprisingly – recently defeated last year’s defending state champion team.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys filed the lawsuit on Monday, May 19, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on behalf of FAU.

The lawsuit details the harms that Minnesota’s policies have caused several female athletes.

One female, a junior, has competed against a male athlete for two years and has lost games during the regular season and sectionals. Her team will likely compete against this male athlete again, both this season and next year.

Another female athlete, a “star pitcher” who has already committed to play collegiate softball, was originally a member of the male athlete’s club team. When she learned she would have to compete against him for pitching time, she decided to quit the team. Her school team will likely compete against him this season.

The lawsuit names Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison; Commissioner of the Minnesota Commission on Civil Rights Rebecca Lucero; Executive Director of the Minnesota State High School League Erich Martens; and Willie Jett, Minnesota Commissioner of Education, along with several local school boards.

“Minnesota allows male students to compete in women’s and girls sports if they claim a female gender identity,” the lawsuit alleges. “Minnesota does not place any physical limitations on participation in the female category, such as testosterone levels or other measurements.”

“Minnesota’s policy expands opportunities for male athletes to compete and experience victory at the expense of female athletes,” the lawsuit continues. “Minnesota’s female athletes suffer as a result – experiencing fewer opportunities to play, win, advance, and receive recognition in their own sports.”

It adds,

ADF Legal Counsel Suzanne Beecher issued a statement after the lawsuit was filed.

“Minnesota is failing its female athletes,” she said. “The state is putting the rights of males ahead of females, telling girls their hard work may never be enough to win and that they don’t deserve fairness and safety.”

Beecher added,

The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota has a mixed bag of judges, with four nominated by former President Joe Biden and three nominated by Republican presidents.

However, any appeal in the case will likely go to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has 11 active circuit judges, 10 of which were nominated by Republican presidents. The 8th Circuit is widely seen as our nation’s most conservative federal appellate court.

FAU’s lawsuit against Minnesota comes just a few weeks after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit to stop the enforcement of two of President Trump’s executive orders, “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” and “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

The orders directed the Education Department and the Justice Department (DOJ) to “take all appropriate action” to protect female athletic opportunities nationwide and “thereby provide the equal opportunity guaranteed by Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.”

Ellison’s lawsuit responded to a warning from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who suggested in April that the DOJ is considering legal action against Minnesota for permitting males into female athletics.

And in February, Bondi penned a letter to Ellison, warning him that the DOJ will “take all appropriate action” to enforce Title IX, which is violated by “requiring girls to compete against boys in sports and athletic events.”

“Minnesota should be on notice,” Bondi warned, “federal law requires giving girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by ensuring that girls need to compete only with other girls, not with boys.”

With its lawsuit against Minnesota, FAU has beaten the DOJ to the punch.

The female athletes represented in the lawsuit above are courageous defenders of biological reality, sanity and commonsense.

It’s often said that “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” In the case, several courageous women are standing up, speaking out and holding the Land of 10,000 Lakes to account.

Please pray for them, and the ADF lawyers, as they move forward in their lawsuit against Minnesota.

The case is Female Athletes United v. Minnesota.

Related articles and resources:

Education Department Finds UPenn Violated Title IX & Women’s Rights

Department of Justice Launches Title IX Task Force to Protect Women’s Sports

ADF Files Civil Rights Complaints to Protect Female Athletes, Parents

Department of Education Launches Multiple Investigations Into Title IX Violations

Trump Signs Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports and Spaces

Photo from Getty Images.