Michigan Senate Democrats won't consider a trans athlete sports ban. Will Trump target the state?
A trans rights flag at the Transgender Unity Rally at the Michigan Capitol. Jan. 30, 2025. Photo by Jon King.
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit's free newsletter to keep up with the city's public school system and Michigan education policy.
The Republican-controlled House passed two bills last week that would bar transgender girls from competing on girls sports teams. But Democrats, who control the Senate, say they will not consider the legislation.
'Our legislative agenda is long and attacking kids is not on it,' Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, a Democrat from Grand Rapids, told Chalkbeat in a statement.
Failure to take up the Republican-sponsored bills could draw unwelcome political attention to Michigan at a time when the Trump administration has targeted for investigation states that don't comply with its view on Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sex.
Since taking office for the second time, Trump has issued several executive orders targeting the rights of transgender Americans. One in January said the U.S. government would only recognize two genders, male and female, while another issued that month attempted to ban gender-affirming health care for transgender youth. A February executive order called for schools to block trans girls from competing on girls sports teams.
Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from schools that don't comply with his executive orders.
Executive orders cannot override existing state and federal statutes, though, and there have been legal challenges to the constitutionality of Trump's executive orders.
But the Trump administration's threats to states that don't comply with the order have stoked fears over how he intends to enforce it. Multiple federal agencies opened investigations into Maine this year after a heated exchange between Trump and the state's Democratic governor, Janet Mills, in which she promised to follow the state's law protecting transgender rights.
In one of those federal cases, a judge issued an injunction to stop the government from freezing federal funds to the state. But there are two other open cases that have been assigned to the Department of Justice to enforce.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said other states are at risk of losing federal funding for Title IX violations, specifically singling out California and Minnesota. Officials in those states have said their civil rights laws preclude them from complying with Trump's executive order. Bondi's office announced Wednesday that it has opened an investigation into California.
Like some other states, Michigan recently expanded state protections from discrimination on the basis of sexuality and gender identity and expression. The expansion of those protections two years ago has long been a signature issue for Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
She signed the expansion of the state's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act in 2023, saying in a statement that 'Michigan is a place that will fight for your freedom to be yourself.'
It is possible what has happened in Maine could happen in Michigan, said Nancy Chi Cantalupo, associate professor of law at Wayne State University.
'But what is happening in Maine is in no way a success for the current administration at this point,' she said, noting that the federal government has never withdrawn funds from a state under Title IX or any other civil rights statutes it enforces.
'It's not like there's a light switch the federal government can use to just turn off federal funds at its whim,' she said. 'There are a lot of steps it has to go through.'
Brinks did not respond to a question about whether she or others in the Democratic Party have concerns Michigan may be targeted by the Trump administration.
Whitmer's office did not respond to questions about the bills.
In Michigan, a prohibition against trans girls competing on girls sports teams would affect few athletes statewide. The Michigan High School Athletic Association, the private organization that runs the state's high school sports competitions, said there were no trans girls competing on spring sports teams this year. None played on winter sports teams, while two played on fall teams.
About 25 states have already passed similar laws restricting trans girls from playing on sports teams aligned with their gender identity.
Advocates for transgender rights say sports bills aren't really about limiting the teams trans girls and women can play on.
'If this bill were just about sports, it wouldn't be proposed in coordination with all of these other anti-trans bills [nationwide,]' said Kye Campbell-Fox, a research assistant and laboratory manager at Michigan State University, who studies the impact of legislation targeting the rights of trans kids. 'This is a coordinated campaign to push trans people out of public life.'
Though the Michigan bills have effectively died, advocates say lawmakers' focus on the issue — and the language they often use to talk about trans athletes — is still harmful to all trans children.
The Michigan bills, for example, referred to trans girls as 'biological males,' ignoring their gender identities. And some lawmakers have said that the presence of trans girls in locker rooms could lead to sexual violence against other girls.
Rep. Mike Harris, a Republican from Waterford, said during a hearing for the bills that he was concerned about the potential for sexual assault if trans girls use girls locker rooms.
'I don't think it's appropriate to place biological boys and girls in the same room, to strip down naked next to each other,' he said.
There is no evidence to support the idea that trans girls will assault other girls, though there is evidence that trans populations face increased risks when they use bathrooms according to the sex they were assigned at birth.
Republican lawmakers' rhetoric has emboldened some students and adults to feel freer to make hateful remarks, and LGBTQ+ youth are being affected by it.
'I'm hearing a lot of fear from youth,' said Jude Krajnyák, a regional coordinator for a research policy project at the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health. 'Things everyone else gets to take for granted — like playing soccer in middle school — are rights that are being taken away from us.'
Krajnyák said he heard from a trans girl in middle school who gave up on playing soccer because she said 'it's just not worth' the backlash.
Currently, the Michigan High School Athletic Association determines eligibility for trans girls to play on girls teams on a case-by-case basis. The executive director of the association, Mark Uyl, makes the determination based on a number of factors, including what gender is recorded on the students' school documents and other paperwork. Students are also asked whether they've begun hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries.
'The MHSAA asks for documentation on therapy and surgery as our policy allows for a waiver to be both approved and denied — and part of that decision is based on where in the transitioning process a student is at the time,' Geoff Kimmerly, director of communications for the association, told Chalkbeat.
The policy went into effect in 2012, according to the association. It aligned with federal law during the Obama administration, as well as federal requirements from the Office for Civil Rights during Trump's first term and Biden's presidency.
'The MHSAA follows and will continue to follow all applicable state and federal laws,' said Kimmerly in a statement. 'We are monitoring developments in this regard closely.'
Hannah Dellinger covers K-12 education and state education policy for Chalkbeat Detroit. You can reach her at hdellinger@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
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