Maine Democrats Want to Amend State Constitution to Codify Allowing Trans Athletes in Girls’ Sports
Maine Democrats want to amend the state constitution to permanently allow transgender-identifying males to compete in female sports.
Maine’s Democrat House Majority voted on Thursday to pass a bill that would codify the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA) in the state’s constitution. The proposed bill, LD 260, passed with a slim majority and will ultimately need two-thirds majority in both chambers before it can go before voters, Fox News reported.
State officials have cited the MHRA in their ongoing dispute with the Trump administration over its allowance of males in female sports and spaces. MHRA is the state’s anti-discrimination law, and lawmakers added “gender identity” protections in 2021.
“Our position is that Title IX, consistent with the Maine Human Rights Act, so both federal and state law, supports that trans girls will be able to participate in high school sports consistent with their gender identity,” Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a recent CNN interview. “So my contention is Maine is following Title IX, Maine is following the Maine Human Rights Act.”
At the same time, Maine Republicans are working to strip “gender identity” from the law.
The state House voted on the legislation one day after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Maine for its refusal to comply with President Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which interprets Title IX to prohibit the inclusion of males in female sports.
The DOJ’s complaint accuses Maine of “openly and defiantly flouting federal anti-discrimination law.”
“By prioritizing gender identity over biological reality, Maine’s policies deprive girl athletes of fair competition, deny them equal athletic opportunities, and expose them to heightened risks of physical injury and physiological harm,” the complaint reads.
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President Trump’s executive order was created to protect female student athletes from having “to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.” The order also mandates each federal department to “review grants to education programs and, where appropriate, rescind funding to programs that fail to comply with the policy established in this order,” which protects women “as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
Following Trump’s order, Maine officials publicly said they would not comply, siding with transgender-identifying males over women and girls and citing state law allowing students to play on teams that match their “gender identity.”
Then a transgender-identifying boy claimed the victory in the Maine Class B championship for the Greely High School girls’ track and field team in February.
President Trump and Gov. Janet Mills had a public spat on February 20, during 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.
“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.”
Both the Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services subsequently launched investigations into the state and ultimately found the Maine Department of Education and other entities in violation of Title IX.
The Department of Education recently began the process of cutting federal K-12 funding to Maine over the transgender debate. The USDA also began freezing funding to the state, but a federal court ultimately blocked the move.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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