Trump Education Department launches Title IX probes into 2 blue states allegedly ignoring trans athlete order

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The United States Department of Education has launched Title IX investigations into athletic associations in California and Minnesota after they said they would ignore President Donald Trump's executive order to keep transgender athletes out of girls and women's sports.

The Minnesota State High School League announced Thursday it will continue to allow transgender athletes to compete against girls despite Trump's executive order to probibit them from doing so.

That came just days after the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow the state's law that allows athletes to participate as whichever gender they identify as.

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Donald Trump  (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

"The Minnesota State High School League and the California Interscholastic Federation are free to engage in all the meaningless virtue-signaling that they want, but at the end of the day they must abide by federal law," said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights. 

"(The Office of Civil Rights') Chicago and San Francisco regional offices will conduct directed investigations into both organizations to ensure that female athletes in these states are treated with the dignity, respect and equality that the Trump administration demands. I would remind these organizations that history does not look kindly on entities and states that actively opposed the enforcement of federal civil rights laws that protect women and girls from discrimination and harassment."

The Department of Education added that state laws do not override federal anti-discrimination laws, so the associations are