Portland Public Schools caught between state, federal transgender athlete rules

Portland Public Schools finds itself stuck between opposing federal and state rules regarding policies related to transgender student-athletes, according to district communication.

In a letter written April 28 by an attorney representing the school district, PPS claims it cannot abide by new federal Title IX interpretation demanding that transgender student-athletes be barred from competing in girls sports and using girls bathrooms and locker room. Its hands are tied as state law requires student-athletes compete and use facilities that align with their general equity.

C. Robert Steringer of Harrang Long PC asked that the

Department of Education Office for Civil Rights complaint against Portland Schools

be dismissed.

The Oregonian/OregonLive received a copy of the letter through a public records request.

Steringer pointed out that Oregon Department of Education guidelines state that schools are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of gender identity.

“In accordance with this law, schools are prohibited from excluding gender expansive students from participating in school athletics and activities that align with their consistently asserted gender identity if the basis of such exclusion is the student’s gender identity,” reads ODE’s interpretation of state law.

State law is essentially the same as pertains to students using facilities, such as bathrooms and locker rooms.

“Oregon state law affirms that students have the right to use school facilities such as restrooms, locker rooms, and showers in a manner consistent with their gender identity,” reads the rules from ODE.

When President Donald Trump took office, his administration quickly reversed course on how the federal government viewed Title IX. While the Joe Biden administration used Title IX to defend student-athletes of all gender identities, the Trump administration is attempting to use Title IX to ban transgender student-athletes from competing and being in other spaces dedicated to girls.

In February,

Trump signed an executive order

that directs the secretary of education to take action against educational institutions and state athletic associations that allow transgender student-athletes to compete against women.

Steringer‘s letter states that PPS is now in an impossible situation where it can’t abide by federal and state guidance at the same time.

However, Steringer claims that the Ninth Circuit Court has set precedent that requires Oregon high schools to allow student-athletes to compete in the sports that align with their gender identity.

And at the same time, the Ninth Circuit Court has set a precedent that did not allow Idaho to ban transgender girls from competing in the sports that align with their gender identity. In 2024, the Hecox v. Little case found that a transgender ban would be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.

Steringer added that the issues in the Hecox vs. Little case would mirror the new federal Department of Education guidance, as the new federal Title IX guidance has not been held up by a circuit court ruling.

“As a result, PPS is caught in the middle of two conflicts: (i) a conflict between state law and the federal executive branch’s interpretation of Title IX; and (ii) a conflict between the federal executive branch’s interpretation and the federal judicial branch’s respective interpretations of Title IX,” Steringer wrote.

The United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights first sent notice to Portland Public Schools and the Oregon School Activities Association in late March, notifying both entities that they were being investigated for violating Title IX by allowing a transgender girl to compete in a high school track meet on March 9.

Executive Director Peter Weber said the OSAA has not received any communication from the federal Department of Education since their communication in March.

This is the second consecutive year where Oregon has been in the national spotlight for having a transgender student-athlete compete in track and field.

In 2024

Ada Gallagher

from McDaniel High School became the first known transgender student-athlete to win an individual state championship in Oregon, taking first in the Class 6A 200-meter dash. She

was met with heavy boos from the crowd at Hayward Field

when she won the race and accepted her medal.

At the 2025 state championships, a transgender student-athlete from Wells tied for fifth in the high jump. At the podium,

two competitors refused to take their medals in protest

of the OSAA allowing transgender student-athletes to compete.

The Oregonian/OregonLive is not naming the Wells athlete to protect her privacy.

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