In an effort to prevent Republican President Donald Trump’s administration from targeting Minnesota in the same manner that it is targeting Maine in a federal effort to outlaw transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports, Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison of Minnesota filed a preemptive lawsuit against him on Tuesday.
At a news conference, Ellison quoted the first sentence of the lawsuit that names Trump and his attorney general, Pam Bondi, saying, “Minnesota brings this lawsuit to stop President Trump and his administration from bullying vulnerable children in this state.”
Bondi cautioned that Minnesota and California might follow when she revealed the administration’s case against Maine last week.
Following weeks of acrimony between Trump and Democratic Governor Janet Mill of Maine, which culminated in a confrontation at the White House when Mill informed Trump, “We’ll see you in court,” the administration filed the lawsuit.
Ellison is attempting to get to the courthouse before Bondi and Trump in this dispute.
The federal complaint requests that the court rule that Trump’s two executive orders on the subject are unconstitutional and that their execution is prohibited.
Additionally, the Justice Department has written to Minnesota threatening to withhold school funds if the state does not comply.
Ellison told reporters that the orders usurp Congress’s legislative authority, which is a violation of the separation of powers guaranteed by the constitution.
According to him, the directives also contravene Title IX, a federal law that forbids sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive federal funding.
Since 1993, transgender rights have been safeguarded under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, and Democratic Gov.
In 2023, Tim Walz signed legislation designating the state as a safe haven for transgender youngsters seeking gender-affirming care from other states.
In February, Ellison released a formal legal opinion stating that Trump’s executive order on sports was superseded by the state’s human rights safeguards. The attorney general also stated that his advise is legally binding in Minnesota unless a court decides otherwise.
“Trump’s burning desire to destroy trans kids and punish us for helping them live and thrive isn’t just a violation of law, it’s a violation of Minnesota values,” Ellison stated. “And we’re not going to sell out trans kids or any vulnerable community just to stay in the good graces of a lawless administration.”
However, Cold Spring House Speaker Lisa Demuth, the state’s senior Republican, supported Trump’s stance.
“It’s extremely disappointing that Attorney General Ellison would rather risk federal funding and file yet another taxpayer-funded lawsuit against the Trump administration than simply do the right thing and keep boys out of girls sports,” Demuth stated. “It’s a waste of taxpayer money to further a political agenda that makes girls less safe and makes sports less fair.”
Human rights advocates and parents of transgender children, including Minnesota’s first openly transgender lawmaker, state Representative Leigh Finke of St. Paul, joined Ellison at his press conference.
Speaking to Trump and his followers, Finke asserted that LGBTQ+ individuals have always been present in all historical cultures.
“No law, no policy, no hate-fueled campaign will ever change that. So I’m asking you to just please stop trying,” Finke stated. “To those of you in that world who still are capable of hearing from those of us outside of it, understand this: All that we ask is to be left in peace, to live and love and without fear.”
Transgender women and girls are already underrepresented in sports and comprise only a small portion of student athletes, according to Dr. Kelsey Leonardsmith, a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a clinician at the Family Tree Clinic in Minneapolis, where she treats transgender children from multiple states.
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She refuted the claim made by detractors that permitting them to play sports for girls unfairly benefits them and endangers other girls.
“Shutting out trans girls helps no one, and it is profoundly harmful to those it excludes,” Leonardsmith stated. “On the surface, it removes opportunities for physical activity, for fitness, for belonging. But on a more fundamental level, it says to trans youth, ‘We do not believe you, you are not real,’ and it is hard to imagine a more damaging message to send to children.”
