Minneapolis - St. Paul Metro

A conservative advocacy group sued Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Tuesday on behalf of three female softball players who say Minnesota’s policy allowing trans athletes to compete on sports teams that match their gender amounts to sex discrimination against female athletes and a violation of Title IX, the federal statute requiring equity in men’s and women’s sports.

The lawsuit, filed in a Minnesota federal court, was brought by Female Athletes United, a national group that describes itself as an advocate for “fairness, safety, and equal opportunity for women and girls in sports.” It is led by three women with ties to the Republican Party and conservative legal groups.

Three female high school softball players from Maple Grove High School and Farmington High School are described as plaintiffs. According to the suit, the girls say they have competed with transgender athletes and believe it is “unsafe and unfair to play against a male athlete, particularly in softball.”

The Minnesota High School League has allowed students to participate on teams that best align with their gender identity for 10 years. Supporters of the policy say it’s worked without incident.

A recent executive order by President Donald Trump banned transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports. Federal officials are pressuring the state now to comply with Trump’s executive order. That includes investigating the high school league policy.

Ellison has argued that Minnesota’s human rights law lets transgender athletes compete in sports consistent with their gender identity and that the state law supersedes Trump’s executive order. State lawmakers in March rejected an effort to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports.

The lawsuit is asking federal judges to rule that Ellison and other state officials are violating Title IX. It’s also asking for an injunction to preclude state and district officials from allowing trans athletes to compete with or against female members of Female Athletes United.

Lawyers representing Female Athletes United are from the conservative Christian Group Alliance Defending Freedom, which has won more than a dozen United States Supreme Court cases, including overturning Roe v. Wade.