Minnesota girls softball players react after judge throws out their lawsuit over transgender pitcher

OutKick contributor Riley Gaines joins 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss how the transgender athlete debate has sparked backlash in states like Minnesota and California as critics fight to protect women's sports. 

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by three Minnesota girls high school softball players who have had to compete against a biological male transgender pitcher.

The lawsuit was filed by three anonymous female athletes against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minnesota State High School League Executive Director Erich Martens, Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero and Minnesota Commissioner of Education Willie Jett. 

The case was thrown out Sept. 19 by U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2018. 

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Champlin Park celebrates winning the state championship while Bloomington Jefferson looks on. (Amber Harding)

One of the anonymous plaintiffs told Fox News Digital the dismissal is "upsetting" and "frustrating." 

"This is so upsetting. I honestly don’t think it’s fair that this is still going on. I really hoped the court would order it to stop immediately, and now it just feels super frustrating, not only for those affected now but for all the girls it could affect," she said.

Another plaintiff also called the ruling "frustrating," adding, "This is not fair."

Tostrud's decision states that the plaintiffs' attorneys have "not shown as a factual matter that bylaw-created disparities are sufficiently substantial to deny its members ‘effective accommodation’ or ‘equal treatment’ as those concepts are defined under Title IX."

The transgender athlete, Marissa Rothenberger of Champlin Park High