The Minnesota home failed to pass the “Stored Girls Sports Act” weeks after President Donald Trump's executive order to ban biological men from competing in women's and girls' sports.
HF12 needed 68 House votes for the passage, but the bill was one shortfall of 66 votes, 67 votes.
The law stated that “only female students may participate in primary or secondary school-level athletic teams or sports where educational institutions are limited to women and girls.”
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People will waving the transgender pride flag while marching, gathering at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, USA on January 18, 2025. (Nathan Morris/Nul Photo via Getty Images)
“Women means women who are biologically determined by genetics and defined in terms of an individual's reproductive system,” the bill states.
As they were waiting for a final vote, they saw a rally of supporters and enemies at the Capitol.
Minnesota had “emotional debate” before the bill was finally voted, and Republican Rep. Peggy Scott, who sponsored the law, was among those who spoke.
Former visitor players have called Tim Waltz “a disgusting, disgraceful thing about football.”
“We can't allow our girls to lose their spot on a team, to be on the podium or to be vulnerable to injuries from male teammates or male competitors,” she said. “It's not safe and it's not fair to our girls.”
“We have women and girls all over the world, and we are dropping out of sports for fear of competing with biological men,” Republican Rep. Marion Lalik added in support of the bill, referring to the 2024 UN report on violence against women and girls.
However, opponents of the bill pointed to trans discrimination in their arguments.
“All the kids deserve to play,” said Democrat Brion Curran, the Caucus Speaker of the Minnesota Queer. “We are not satisfied with this dangerous, hatred-filled anti-trans rhetoric.”
President Donald Trump signed the “No Men in Women's Sports” executive order on February 5, 2025. (AP/Image)
Democrat Rep. Leish Kozlowski added that the law is “a bill that bullies trans girls and non-binary children.”
While this heated debate continues, the Senate voted Monday on a bill banning trans athletes from competing in women's sports. The bill didn't get the 60 votes needed to experience it. This means at least seven Democrats didn't vote “Yes.”
Trump's executive order last month directed the education department to notify the school system and universities. He directed to force girls and women to compete with trans women to be a violation of Title IX.
After the order was signed, the NCAA revised its own policy on transathletes in women's sports, which some viewed as controversial.
Despite the executive order, the Minnesota State High School League has announced that trans athletes can participate in women's sports, claiming that Minnesota Human Rights Act and the state constitution consider them eligible.
House Speaker Melissa Hortman (Brooklyn Park-36B) leads a session for Minnesota Senators at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. (Getty Images)
However, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondy wrote a letter later last month warning him of his failure to pass the “Storage Girls' Sports Act.”
“The Department of Education's Civil Rights Office has launched a Title IX investigation for the Minnesota High School League,” a letter from Bondi read. “If the Department of Education's investigation actually denied that relevant Minnesota entities denies girls the equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by demanding competition from boys, the Department of Justice is ready to take all the right actions to enforce federal law.”
State Democrat Lee Finke said there is no problem with US trans athletes.
“Minnesota has been comprehensive for 10 years. There was zero issues,” Finke said. “But we do this for political reasons, and if you lie about your community for a long time long enough, people will believe it.”
Minnesota House Democrats voted for the bill.
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Republican Rep. Peggy Bennett saw it completely differently.
“The bill is about equity, safety and preservation of women's sports in Minnesota.”
If the bill were passed in the House on Monday, it would have yet to have been signed by Gov. Tim Waltz, a powerful advocate for trans rights that was expected to reject it.
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