Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton lashed out Thursday at the tactics used by people who were trying to prevent transgendered students from playing on girls sports teams.

Earlier in the day, Minnesota’s High School League voted to open up girl’s sports to transgender student-atheletes.

Dayton called the campaign against the policy change “hate mongering”, “despicable” and “absurd”.

Dayton appeared to be commenting about a newspaper ads from the Child Protection League that said the policy change would be the end to girls sports because transgendered males would be allowed on the teams. Also a recent editorial from a lawyer published in the Star Tribune suggested that someone such as Green Bay Packer’s Clay Matthews could now play on the girls teams if he said “my long hair is evidence of my sincerity and my feminine self-expression.”

“I mean the idea that Clay Matthews is going to change gender status to go tromple young girls on a basketball court, I mean, it’s just so … it’s ludicrous but it’s not funny because it’s so hurtful to kids out there struggling with their own identities and parents who are struggling with those challenges,” said Dayton. “And I think anyone who would think they would wish this on themselves or their kids is just just absolutely … the embellishment it would take for that far-fetched, absurd, not even hypothetical possibility and turn that into an attack on trying to help some kids who need a chance to be like every other kid in terms of their school activities.

“It’s just… I can’t comprehend how people….how some people in this state can want to spend their time on something that’s that destructive to other people’s lives and misstate it in such a way that is really appalling.”

Transcript of Governor Mark Dayton’s comments: