Trump’s Education Dept. Announces Investigation After Boy Wins High School Girls’ Pole Vault Competition in Maine
The U.S. Department of Education announced an investigation into the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) amid allegations that it continues to allow males to play on female sports teams in defiance of President Donald Trump’s executive order.
The investigation comes after Maine school sports officials publicly said last week that they planned to defy Trump’s order protecting women and girls’ sports and spaces in favor of a state law recognizing “gender identity.” Subsequently, a transgender-identifying boy won a high school girls’ pole vault competition in the state on Monday.
“Maine would have you believe that it has no choice in how it treats women and girls in athletics—that is, that it must follow its state laws and allow male athletes to compete against women and girls,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement, which continued:
Let me be clear: If Maine wants to continue to receive federal funds from the Education Department, it has to follow Title IX. If it wants to forgo federal funds and continue to trample the rights of its young female athletes, that, too, is its choice. OCR will do everything in its power to ensure taxpayers are not funding blatant civil rights violators.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a letter to Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin announcing the investigation amid allegations that it “continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics and that it has denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities, thereby violating federal antidiscrimination law,” the agency said in a press release.
The letter also notified the MDOE that OCR is investigating Maine School Administrative District #51 (MSAD #51), after reports that a teen boy claimed the victory in the Maine Class B championship for the Greely High School girls’ track and field team on Monday.
The investigation follows a public smackdown from Trump on Feb. 20, in which he said at the Republican Governor’s Association dinner that Maine is at risk of losing federal funding if the state continues to allow males to play on female sports teams.
On Friday, Trump called out Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) to her face during a meeting of governors at the White House for refusing to comply with his order.
“We are the federal law. You better do it, because you’re not gonna get any federal funding if you don’t… your population also doesn’t want men in women’s sports,” Trump said. “You better comply, or you’re not getting any federal funding.
“See you in court,” Mills replied.
“Good. See you in court, that should be a real easy one,” Trump fired back. “Enjoy your life after, governor, I don’t think you’ll be in elected office.”
Mills and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey have pledged to fight back against Trump.
President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from playing in women’s and girls’ sports on February 5. Consequently, federal Title IX rules were altered to that effect, and schools that refuse to obey the order risk having their federal funding withdrawn.
Last week, the Maine Principals Association (MPA) confirmed that it will not abide by Trump’s executive order protecting women’s sports.
“The executive order and our Maine state Human Rights Act are in conflict, and the Maine Principal’s Association (MPA) will continue to follow state law regarding gender identity,” MPA executive director Mike Burnham said.
Burnham added that he is “instructing all schools in Maine to follow the Maine Human Rights Act” and will not implement any policies to the contrary.
“The staff at the MPA will closely monitor any updates from federal and state authorities regarding the potential impact of the president’s executive order on high school sports participation and adjust its policy accordingly,” Burnham said.
Athletic associations in both California and Minnesota have similarly rebuffed Trump’s order protecting women and girls’ sports teams from the incursion of trans-identifying male athletes.
In response, Trump’s Department of Education sent letters to both the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) on last week notifying the organizations that they are under investigation by the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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