By MARTHA BELLISLE, Associated Press
The Trump administration said Friday it’s investigating the Oregon Department of Education after receiving a complaint from a conservative nonprofit group alleging the state was violating civil rights law by allowing transgender girls to compete on girls sports teams.
It’s the latest escalation in the Republican administration’s effort to bar transgender athletes from women’s sports teams nationwide. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February to block trans girls from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
The administration says transgender athlete policies violate Title IX, the 1972 federal law that bans discrimination in education based on sex. Proponents of Trump’s ban say it restores fairness in athletic competitions, but opponents say bans are an attack on transgender youth.
The U.S. Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights opened the Oregon investigation based on a complaint by the America First Policy Institute that alleges high-school aged female athletes had lost medals and competitive opportunities to transgender athletes. It follows a probe launched earlier this year into Portland Public Schools and the state’s governing body for high school sports over alleged violations of Title IX for allowing trans girls to compete in girls sports.
Earlier this month, the administration sued the California Department of Education for allowing transgender girls to compete on girls sports teams, alleging the policy violates federal law. Trump also filed a lawsuit in April alleging Maine violated Title IX by allowing trans girls and women to compete against other female athletes.
Oregon law allows trans students to compete on sex-segregated sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a release Friday that the administration won’t let educational institutions receive federal funds “to continue trampling upon women’s rights.”
“If Oregon is permitting males to compete in women’s sports, it is allowing these males to steal the accolades and opportunities that female competitors have rightfully earned through hard work and grit, while callously disregarding women’s and girls’ safety, dignity, and privacy,” Trainor said.
Messages seeking comment from the Oregon education officials were not immediately returned.
Nate Lowery, spokesman for the Oregon School Activities Association, said they were reviewing the administration’s notice with its legal counsel and doesn’t have additional comments at this time.
Three high school track-and-field athletes filed a lawsuit against Oregon in early July that seeks to overturn all sports records set by transgender girl athletes and prevent them from participating in girls sporting events.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon alleges the state policy prohibiting schools from excluding student athletes from events that align with their gender identity violates Title IX. The students say it has harmed them through loss of competition, placements, and opportunities to advance to higher-level events.
Jessica Hart Steinmann, executive general counsel at the America First Policy Institute, said the investigation is a step toward restoring equal opportunities for women’s athletics.
“Title IX was meant to protect girls — not to undermine them — and we’re hopeful this signals a return to that original purpose,” Steinmann said in a release.
More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some policies have been blocked in court.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case over state restrictions on which sports teams transgender athletes can join.