The Oregon House of Representatives rejected a bill on June 5 that would have required Oregon schools to designate school sports teams by biological sex.
After Democrats blocked the bill, Oregon House Republicans sent an urgent letter to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, urging swift federal intervention and offering full cooperation with an ongoing Title IX investigation into Oregon’s education system.
The bill failed along party lines despite hearing stories of more than a dozen young female athletes who were present for the vote, including high-jumpers Reese Eckard of Sherwood High School and Alexa Anderson of Tigard High School.
The action marks yet another flashpoint in the battle over transgender participation in athletics.
The legislative showdown followed a weekend in which male athletes identifying as transgender competed in the girls’ division at high school track meets in California, Washington, Maine, and Oregon, “displacing female competitors and confirming the systemic nature of the problem,” according to the Republican letter to Dhillon.
Just two years earlier, Rose, who is a senior at Portland-based Ida B. Wells High School, finished in 11th place in the boys JV division.
“What happened last weekend at Hayward Field was heartbreaking,” wrote Oregon Republican Rep. Darin Harbick in a statement sent to The Epoch Times.
“A male athlete took a lane from a girl who trained all year for that moment. This isn’t just unfair—it’s wrong, and it’s exactly why we need federal oversight.”
By rejecting HB 2037, Republican Rep. Ed Diehl said, the Democrat majority chose ideology over fairness, common sense, and compliance with federal law.
“This bill was straightforward: protect female athletes and ensure a level playing field in school sports. Instead, the majority prioritized political agendas over equal opportunity for Oregon’s young athletes.”
“Mostly what I heard this morning was … just mean,” Nosse said.
Rep. Jules Walters, a Democrat, echoed her colleague, pointing out that many transgender people are on staff at the Capitol.
“When politicians speak callously on matters relating to identity, they’re speaking to their colleagues, their colleagues’ staff and their colleagues’ families,” Walters said.
DOJ Zooming in on Oregon
The DOJ was already focused on Oregon.“When males are allowed to compete with girls in female-only sport or events, the protections afforded to female athletes by Title IX are lost, and, quite simply, the law is broken,” Dhillon wrote in her letter to counsel at America First Policy Institute (AFPI).
Included with the Republican correspondence to Dhillon was an April 2024 letter from OSAA Executive Director Peter Weber acknowledging that the association’s “gender identity” policies were developed with ODE.
“ODE is set to receive about $1.5 billion in federal funds this biennium,” wrote Republican Rep. Boomer Wright in a statement shared with The Epoch Times.
“Those dollars must not support policies that violate civil rights law.”
The letter urged the DOJ to “carefully review how those funds intersect with policies that may be in violation of federal civil rights law.”
The executive order suggests that educational institutions that permit transgender athletes to compete in female sports could lose funding.
Although the DOJ letter does not draw any conclusions about the Oregon cases, it signals the beginning of a formal review that could have broader implications for school districts and athletic associations across the country.
If violations are found, the department could mandate changes to policy and enforcement or pursue legal action to ensure compliance.
