Trump administration to investigate Oregon over trans athlete policies

The Trump administration is investigating the state of Oregon over its transgender school athlete policies. 

The move comes after the government said on Friday (25 July) that it had received a complaint from a conservative group claiming the state was violating civil rights law by allowing transgender girls to compete on sports teams matching their affirmed gender.

The development is the latest in Trump’s crackdown on trans inclusion in sports, following on from the executive order he signed in February which set out plans to ban trans athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports. 

The administration claims that pro-trans athlete policies violate Title IX, part of civil rights legislation that bans discrimination in education based on sex. California’s Department of Education has already been sued after it refused to ban transgender athletes from school sports. 

State law in Oregon allows trans students to compete in sex-segregated sports teams, provided they compete in the team which matches their “consistently asserted gender identity”. In addition, trans athletes cannot be excluded from sports solely based on their gender.

But now, the US Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights has launched an investigation based on the complaint from the America First Policy Institute, a not-for-profit right-wing think tank which was “at the centre of Trump’s planning for a second term”, The New York Times reported.

The group claimed that high-school-aged girls had missed out on medals and opportunities to compete because they had to face trans competitors. 

Three track-and-field athletes said the policies violated Title IX and filed a lawsuit at the beginning of the month. The case seeks to overturn all sports records set by transgender girls and prevent them from participating again.

According to the lawsuit, the three athletes were harmed “through loss of competition, advancement to higher events and the ability to earn titles or secure scholarships”, KLCC reported.  

Earlier this year, Portland Public Schools, the largest school district in the state, and the body that oversees high school sports, faced similar allegations.

Acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor said in a press release that the Trump administration wouldn’t allow education settings which receive federal funds “to continue trampling upon women’s rights”.

He went on to say: “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.”

A spokesperson for Oregon’s Department of Education said they don’t comment on pending court cases.

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