Minnesota Court Battle Shows Why Arkansas’ Law Protecting Women’s Sports Matters
On Wednesday a federal court in Minnesota heard oral arguments in a lawsuit over fairness in women’s sports.
The group Female Athletes United is challenging a Minnesota policy that lets male athletes compete in women’s athletics.
We have written many times about how male athletes have taken first place medals and podium spots away from women and girls.
Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education and in activities that receive federal funding — like school athletic programs. But in recent years there have been various policies and rules that drastically redefined “sex” under state and federal law to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
As a result, many policymakers and educators — including officials in Minnesota — have adopted policies that let male athletes compete in women’s sports and use girls’ locker rooms, showers, restrooms, and changing areas at school.
Female Athletes United is an organization that advocates for women and girls in sports. In May, the organization filed a lawsuit to strike down Minnesota’s policy that lets biological males compete in girls’ sports. The organization is represented by attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom. Wednesday’s arguments in court are part of the lawsuit to strike down Minnesota’s policy.
In a statement, Alliance Defending Freedom wrote,
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent Female Athletes United in a lawsuit challenging a discriminatory Minnesota athletics policy that violates the equal treatment and athletic opportunities for girls guaranteed by Title IX.
“Minnesota is failing its female athletes,” said ADF Senior Counsel Rory Gray, who will be arguing before the court. “The state is putting males ahead of females, telling girls their hard work may never be enough to win and that they don’t deserve fairness and safety. By sacrificing protection for female athletes, Minnesota fails to offer girls equal treatment and opportunity, violating Title IX’s provisions. We are advocating for true equality in sports and urge the court to enjoin Minnesota’s discriminatory policy.”
It seems likely that our federal courts ultimately will rule against Minnesota’s policy and uphold fairness in women’s sports.
Earlier this year, President Trump signed executive orders protecting fairness in women’s sports.
Since then the U.S. Department of Education has worked hard to ensure public schools, colleges, and universities treat women and girls fairly.
Letting men compete in women’s sports is unfair, and it effectively erases women’s athletics.
Female swimmers, powerlifters, cyclists, sprinters, volleyball players, and others have seen their sports radically changed by men who claim to be women. That hampers their ability to compete for athletic scholarships, and it hurts their professional opportunities as adults.
In some sports, letting men compete against women can even be dangerous.
In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school. This good law protects fairness in women’s sports — and it has spared Arkansas from some of the legal battles that other states have faced over athletic programs.
Arkansas also has adopted good laws protecting physical privacy in school locker rooms, showers, restrooms, changing areas, and sleeping accommodations.
Most Americans agree that athletes should compete according to their biological sex — not their gender identity.
We deeply appreciate organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom and Female Athletes United who stand up for fairness in women’s sports. We also appreciate Arkansas’ lawmakers who have enacted good measures protecting fairness in women’s sports in our state.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
