Department of Education to investigate MIAA over ‘Title IX violations’ after Trump Executive Order

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will investigate the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association as part of President Trump’s Executive Order that bars transgender athletes from women’s sports.

The department said the investigation will focus on a Lowell High School girls’ basketball game in which “a male playing for the opposing female team reportedly injured three female players.”

The department also cited the MIAA handbook which states in part, “a student shall not be excluded from participation on a gender-specific sports team that is consistent with the student’s bona fide gender identity.”

San Jose University and the University of Pennsylvania will also be a part of the investigation.

The MIAA released the following statement after the announcement of the investigation:

The MIAA has been notified of an investigation initiated by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights regarding an alleged violation of Title IX. The MIAA has historically complied with all applicable federal and state laws. We are currently seeking guidance from the Office of the Attorney General and our own legal counsel on our next step. We are especially interested in determining this investigation’s impact on teams currently playing the winter season and on our upcoming tournaments.

The Associated Press reported that the Executive Order was part of a series of actions seeking to limit transgender rights, including barring transgender service members from the military, calling to end federal health insurance and other funding for gender-affirming care for transgender people under age 19, and to restrict the way lessons on gender can be taught in schools.

The full announcement from the Department of Education can be read here.