(Reuters) -A complaint by a conservative think tank has triggered a U.S. government investigation into Oregon schools for allowing transgender girls to compete in female-only sporting events, the U.S. Department of Education said on Friday.
The America First Policy Institute, whose former chair is Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, alleged Oregon’s Department of Education prohibited schools from excluding transgender athletes, violating federal sex discrimination laws, the federal agency said in a statement.
The investigation by the Department of Education’s civil rights office follows President Donald Trump’s executive order earlier this year to exclude transgender girls and women from female sports, a directive supporters said would restore fairness. Critics contend that it infringes the rights of athletes.
“Thanks to Secretary McMahon’s leadership, this investigation is moving forward as a vital step toward restoring equal opportunity in women’s athletics,” Jessica Hart Steinmann, executive general counsel of America First Policy Institute, said in the statement.
The Oregon Department of Education declined to comment.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Education said it had found five northern Virginia school districts in violation of federal sex discrimination laws by allowing students to access sex-segregated facilities based on their gender identity.
The department said it gave the districts 10 days to agree with their findings or face possible enforcement actions.
“It’s time for northern Virginia’s experiment with radical gender ideology and unlawful discrimination to come to an end,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement.
The school districts targeted by the investigation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The districts are Alexandria City Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools and Prince William County Public Schools, the department said.
(Reporting By Andrew Hay; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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