Federal Investigation Targets Oregon Over Transgender Athlete Policy

The U.S. Department of Education is probing Portland Public Schools and OSAA for alleged Title IX violations tied to gender identity-based participation in women's sports.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has launched a Title IX investigation into Portland Public Schools for allowing a transgender athlete to compete in a girls' track event on March 19, 2025.
The investigation also focuses on the Oregon School Activities Association's (OSAA) 'gender identity participation' policy, which the OCR claims violates federal law.
Oregon's recent guidelines permit nonbinary and gender-expansive students to participate in sports teams aligning with their gender identity, intensifying the state-federal policy conflict.
This investigation is part of a broader federal effort to enforce Title IX protections based on biological sex, with similar probes ongoing in Maine, California, Minnesota, and Washington.
The OCR's action coincides with World Athletics' announcement of biological sex testing for female athletes, underscoring the global dimension of the debate on gender and sports.