Trump Administration Investigates Minnesota Schools Over ‘Transgender Dolls,’ State Disputes Claims

Dolls are the new battleground in America’s culture war, and this time, the fight has landed in Minnesota classrooms.

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Minnesota’s education department over claims that schools are using “transgender dolls” with kids as young as four. Minnesota officials say the claims are flat-out wrong.

What the federal government says

The Department of Education says it opened the investigation after a complaint was filed on behalf of parents about the use of “transgender dolls” in schools. The complaint came from a group called Defending Education. It claims Minnesota parents were never told about — or allowed to opt their kids out of — classroom activities that used dolls called “MyGender Dolls.”

According to the federal government, the dolls would be available for teachers to use with kids as young as four years old starting this fall. The department says the dolls were made through a taxpayer-funded University of Minnesota program, and have removable body parts, gender-neutral names, and clothing options for both sexes.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the investigation is about protecting parents’ rights. She said no four-year-old should see this kind of material without a parent knowing about it first, and that the government will enforce the law fully so parents stay in control of their child’s education.

What Minnesota says

Minnesota officials strongly disagree with the government’s claims. State and university officials say they aren’t involved with the doll program at all, and researchers say the dolls won’t be in public schools this year, according to reports. The Minnesota Department of Education says it has no plans to require the dolls in any school district in 2026. 

Gov. Tim Walz’s office also denies the dolls were paid for with tax dollars, according to Fox News. His office said the program was started by private donors and is paid for entirely through a private grant, not by the state, and that it isn’t being used in Minnesota schools under Walz. University officials backed this up, saying the doll maker took part in privately funded competitions, not government-funded ones. 

The bigger picture

This isn’t the only action the Trump administration has taken involving Minnesota and LGBTQ issues. In March 2026, the administration sued Minnesota’s education department and its high school sports league, arguing that letting transgender girls play on girls’ sports teams breaks a federal law called Title IX. 

Across the country, the administration has taken many similar steps. Court documents showed the Justice Department sent hospitals demands for private medical records of LGBTQ patients under 18, including billing information and even Social Security numbers. The administration also announced plans to stop covering gender-affirming care for federal employees and their families starting in 2026.

For millions, these actions add up. The administration has also pushed federal health agencies to stop funding research on LGBTQ people and to remove information about gender-affirming care from government websites. In another major move, the Supreme Court ruled that the government could keep transgender and nonbinary people from getting passports with accurate gender markers, a decision three justices strongly disagreed with.