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Air Date: December 1, 2014
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: Michelle Lentz
Michelle Lentz is the state coordinator for the Minnesota Child Protection League Action.
The Minnesota State High School League governs extra-curricular activities at the high school level and are a 501c3 non-profit organization. The Minnesota legislature has authorized schools to hand over the governing of high school athletics to this board so they set the policies and coordinate activities such as running the tournaments. They have decided to push forward a transgender policy that will allow children to choose to participate on the sports team opposite their birth gender. It’s called: Gender Identity Participation in MSHSL Activities.
Minnesota Child Protection League Action took out a full-page ad in their largest newspaper when it appeared that the transgender policy would be passed without public input. As a result of the ad, the high school league received 10,000 e-mails, numerous phone calls and over 150 people showed up at the board meeting. The subject was tabled on October 3rd and it was decided to revisit the topic again at their December 4th meeting.
While there have been revisions, Michelle noted that the same essential problems that existed with the first draft also exist with the latest version.
While Michelle doesn’t know where the real ‘push’ is coming from for this effort, there are no state or federal laws that require this or any other transgender policy.
This policy, if passed, may have ramifications outside the realm of public schools in Minnesota and may impact schools in other states as well.
More Information
1-888-538-3188
This Thursday (December 4th) a vote will be taken on this policy. Regardless of what state you live in, you can contact board members who will be rendering this decision by contacting:
David Stead–763-560-2262
dstead@mshsl.org
Scott McCready–507-932-4420
Bob Grey–320-269-6446 (ext. 3261)
Emmett Keenan–320-257-2130
Chad Stoskopf–218-879-1909
Tom Graupmann–507-663-0633
Troy Urdahl–612-706-1105
Dan Johnson–952-988-4692
Mike Olsen–320-616-2203
Shelly Hotzier–507-847-5963
Mark Solberg–763-689-6011
Chris McDonald–651-683-6900
Wade Johnson–218-745-4646
Erich Martens–320-258-1701
Lane Powell–507-866-6464 (ext. 3121)
Deb Pauly–952-492-2084
Lea Olson–612-886-1845
Paul McDonald–218-235-2190
Steve Eklund–320-396-2114
Steve Bolz–320-269-6962
