The Saratoga Springs City School District in upstate New York is standing behind biological males in girls’ sports, and Rep. Elise Stefanik has a problem with that.
The New York Republican fired off a letter Monday to Education Secretary Linda McMahon asking her to open a civil-rights investigation into the Saratoga Springs board of education after it voted 7-1-1 in favor of a March 27 resolution entitled “Affirming Our Support for Every Student.”
The resolution ensures that students have the “right to use facilities and participate in activities and sports consistent with their gender identity,” a policy at odds with President Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order and federal civil rights law, said Ms. Stefanik, a member of House GOP leadership.
“Allowing biological males into girls’ sports and locker rooms is in direct violation of President Trump’s executive order,” Ms. Stefanik said in her letter. “Our daughters should not be forced to compete against biological men in competitive sports or share a locker room with biological men.”
She cited Title IX, part of the 1972 Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funding.
“I join President Trump in his commitment to protect our nation’s girls and daughters. This Far Left woke ideology has no place in our communities,” said Ms. Stefanik, a potential candidate for New York governor.
Ms. Stefanik’s request comes with the Trump administration already tangling with Maine over its refusal to abide by the executive order banning biological males from female scholastic sports.
The Trump administration has shown that it’s willing to play hardball. The Department of Agriculture froze funding to Maine earlier this month, alleging violations of federal law, although a federal judge blocked the move pending the outcome of a complaint filed by the state.
NEW: @RepStefanik has sent this letter to US Education Secretary McMahon calling for fed investigation into Saratoga Springs CSD for “blatant rejection” of transgender athletes @CITClassroom @CBS6Albany pic.twitter.com/SGdDF3w8qN
— J.T. Fetch (@CBS6Fetch) April 21, 2025
Last week, the Department of Justice sued the Maine Department of Education over its transgender-athlete policy, accusing the state of violating Title IX by allowing male-born students to compete against girls based on gender identity.
The Saratoga Springs resolution was specifically aimed at defying the Trump administration’s “executive and communications targeting transgender students [and] immigrant youth,” calling the policies “antithetical to the principles of access and inclusion that define our schools and our community.”
The resolution cited New York anti-discrimination law and statements by Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James and the state Department of Education calling the Trump gender-related executive orders “legally ineffective.”
The board also cited the state’s Dignity for All Students Act, including a 2018 amendment banning discrimination based on “gender identity” or “gender expression.”
“Our schools will continue to be environments where transgender and gender-expansive students can safely express their authentic selves without fear of discrimination or harassment,” said the resolution. “We affirm the 2018 DASA amendment and will respect students’ chosen names and pronouns. We will ensure their right to use facilities and participate in activities and sports consistent with their gender identity.”
The Biden administration passed a rule last year redefining Title IX to include “gender identity,” but Mr. Trump restored the law’s definition to encompass biological sex only.
