Minnesota -House failed to pass the “preserving girls’ sports law” weeks after President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban biological men from competing in women’s and girls sports.
HF12 needed 68 house voices for passage, but the bill fell a voice card with 67 affirmative votes for 66 negative votes.
The law stated that “only female students can participate in an athletic team or sport at the high school level that an educational institution has limited to women and girls.”
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A person waves a cross -cut pride flag during People’s March and Rally to Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, USA, January 18, 2025. (Nathan Morris/Nurphoto via Getty Images)
“Woman means a female as biologically determined by genetics and defined with regard to the individual’s reproductive system,” the bill mentions.
A rally of supporters and opponents was seen at Capitol as they waited for the final vote.
The Minnesota House had an “emotional discussion” before the bill was eventually voted on, and Republican state representative Peggy Scott, who sponsored the law, was among those who spoke.
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“We can’t let our girls be vulnerable to losing their place on the team, being on the podium or injuring a male teammate or male competitor,” she said. “It’s not safe and it’s not fair to our girls.”
“We have women and girls all over the world who are so scared to compete with biological men that they drop out of sports,” added Republican state representative Marion Rarick in support of the bill and refers to a UN report from 2024 on violence against women and girls.
However, opponents of the bill pointed to transformation in their arguments.
“All children deserve to play,” said Democratic State Representative Brion Curran, Minnesota Queer legislators Caucus President. “We will not be complacent with this hateful and dangerous anti-trans-rhetoric.”
President Donald Trump signed “No Men Men In Women’s Sports” Executive Oder on February 5, 2025. (AP/IMAGN)
Democratic state representative Liish Kozlowski added that the law was “a bill for Bully Trans Girls and non-binary children.”
While this warmed debate was taking place, the Senate voted on Monday on a bill that banned trans athletes from competing in women’s sports. The bill did not get the 60 votes needed to review, which means that at least seven Democrats did not vote yes.
Trump’s executive order last month ordered the education department to inform school systems as well as colleges that it is a violation of title IX to force girls and women to compete with transient females.
After the order was signed, NCAA revised its own policy for trans athletes in women’s sports, although the audit has been seen as controversial by some.
Despite the executive order, the Minnesota State High School League announced that it would continue to let Trans athletes participate in girls’ sports, arguing that the Minnesota Human Rights Act and their state constitution find them justified.
The house Melissa Hortman (Brooklyn Park-36b) leads a session with the Minnesota legislator in the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. (Getty Images)
However, American court lawyer Pam Bondi wrote a letter late last month warning of the consequences of not adopting “Conservative Girls’ Sports Act.”
“The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has begun on a title IX study by the Minnesota State High School League,” the letter from Bondi read. “If the Department of Education Survey shows that relevant Minnesota devices actually deny girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by demanding that they compete against boys, the Department of Justice is ready to take all appropriate steps to enforce federal law.”
The State Democratic Rep. Leigh Finke said a trans athlete problem in the United States does not exist.
“Minnesota has included for 10 years. We’ve had zero problems,” said Finke. “But we do this for political reasons. And when you lie about a society long enough, people will believe it.”
Democrats in the Minnesota house voted the bill down.
Republican state representative Peggy Bennett saw it completely different.
“This bill is about justice, security and preservation of girls sports in Minnesota.”
If the bill were to be passed in the house on Monday, it would still not have been signed by government manager Tim Walz, a strong spokesman for transient rights who was expected to veto it.
