Overview

• Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a federal lawsuit on April 22, preemptively challenging President Trump’s executive orders banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports and defining sex as immutable at birth.
• The lawsuit argues that the orders and related Justice Department funding threats violate Title IX, the U.S. Constitution, and Minnesota’s Human Rights Act, which has protected gender identity since 1993.
• Ellison’s legal action seeks a court ruling to declare the orders unconstitutional and to prevent the federal government from withholding education funding from Minnesota schools.
• The White House condemned the lawsuit, calling it “creepy and anti-woman,” while state Republicans criticized it as fiscally irresponsible and suggested a legislative ban on trans athletes instead.
• This case follows a similar legal battle in Maine and could set a precedent for other states, including California, currently under federal scrutiny for transgender inclusion policies.