June 27 (UPI) -- The Department of Health and Human Services has opened a civil rights investigation into the Minnesota Department of Education over a transgender teenager competing on a girls' softball team. The investigation, announced Thursday, is the latest from the Trump administration connected to the teenager from Champlin Park High School competing in the girls' Minnesota State High School League. The team earlier this month won the 2025 State Tournament. HHS said in a statement Thursday that it is investigating the Minnesota Department of Education and the MSHSL under Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities of HHS funding recipients. It is seeking see if the state's policies violated federal civil rights laws. "The investigation will examine whether Minnesota engaged in discrimination on the basis of sex by allowing male athletes to compete on sports teams reserved for females," the statement said. The federal Department of Justice and the Department of Education have already opened investigations related to the transgender teenager's participation in the sports league. The effort to ban transgender girls from girls' sports teams has been a Republican effort for years and part of a larger movement targeting the LGBT community, which gained a federal partner under the Trump administration. In early February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports to ensure transgender women and girls do not play on women or women's or girls' sports sports teams. Proponents of the ban argue that allowing transgender females in girls' and women's sports gives them an unfair advantage while being discriminatory to athletes who were born female. Critics, meanwhile, contend that the science does not support claims that transgender girls have an unfair advantage, that this is a non-issue given how few transgender athletes there are and that transgender athletes have the right to compete alongside their peers. The American Academy of Pediatrics has also voiced support for transgender athletes participating in sports competitions that align with their gender identity, stating it "helps youth develop self-esteem, correlates positively with overall mental health, and appears to have a protective effect against suicide.