A top official at the Minnesota State High School League reiterated Thursday that the nonprofit will not change its policy that allows transgender athletes to compete in girls high school sports.

The directive from the federal government to change the state’s decade-old policy conflicts with state law, MSHSL executive director Erich Martens said.

It’s a stance the MSHSL has held since February 2025, when an executive order signed by President Donald Trump banned transgender people from participating in girls and women sports.

“They have requested the league to sign an agreement which would indicate a changing of policy in a number of those aspects which, by state law, would not be something that’s possible for us in Minnesota,” Martens said.

Minnesota’s Human Rights Act bans discrimination against protected classes, including discrimination based on gender identity. The Minnesota Legislature added “gender identity” as a protected class in 2023.

The MSHSL board of directors in 2015 voted to open girls sports to transgender student-athletes. State law had already permitted girls to compete in boys sports.

The MSHSL and other athletic organizations were initially given 60 days to reconstruct a policy, something the MSHSL and Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) have refused to do. This past September, the federal government determined the state was in violation of Title IX.

In January, the federal case involving Minnesota’s Title IX violation was referred to the Department of Justice, the federal agency responsible for enforcing nationwide laws.

Noncompliance with Title IX could result in termination of Minnesota’s federal funding.

Following a 10-month investigation, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services presented the MDE and the MSHSL an agreement proposal that, if accepted, would make both entities compliant. The proposal made several demands: the MSHSL would change its policy to ban transgender athletes from girls sports and use biological definitions of male and female; and issue statewide guidance that schools comply with Title IX.

In its investigation, the U.S. DOE determined that the MSHSL, over several years, has allowed transgender athletes to compete in girls skiing (Alpine and Nordic), girls lacrosse, girls track and field, girls volleyball and girls softball.

The MSHSL, citing the Data Privacy Act, does not keep records of how many transgender athletes compete in the league’s sports and activities.