Maine is violating federal law as it continues to allow males to compete in girls sports in defiance of the president’s executive order barring such competition. That’s according to the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey have both made public statements that the state will continue to allow biological males to compete in girls and women’s sports. Additionally, the primary governing body for high school sports in the state, the Maine Principals’ Association, has yet to change its bylaws allowing “transgender” athletes to participate in sports according to their “gender identity,” and the Maine Department of Education has not stepped in to correct that.
“The Maine Department of Education may not shirk its obligations under federal law by ceding control of its extracurricular activities, programs, and services to the Maine Principals’ Association,” said Anthony Archeval, acting director of the Office for Civil Rights, in a press release on Monday. “We hope the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, and Greely High School will work with us to come to an agreement that restores fairness in women’s sports.”
In a letter to the three entities, the office offered them an opportunity to commit to solving the matter through a signed agreement within 10 days or risk referral to the Department of Justice, according to the press release.
The federal agency began a compliance review of the Maine Department of Education Feb. 21 and expanded that investigation on March 5 to include the Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School. The review followed an incident in which a male high school athlete from Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine, won a girls pole vault championship Feb. 17.
The review examined whether the state of Maine allowed biological males to participate in girls sports, thereby violating Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities that receive federal funding. Title IX aided in the creation of female-only sports programs in grade schools and colleges.
President Donald Trump issued his executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” in January, mandating that Title IX must be interpreted according to biological sex rather than the sex that someone chooses to identify as.
The current bylaws for the Maine Principals’ Association allow a “transgender” student to participate in sports “in accordance with either their birth sex or in accordance with their gender identity, but not both.”
Rep. Laurel Libby, a Republican in the state Legislature, posted a photo on Facebook when the male athlete won the girls pole vault championship last month. Libby was censured by her colleagues for posting the photo of a minor and is now challenging the censure in court as a violation of free speech and her constituents’ right to her representation of them in the Legislature.
Libby told The Daily Signal that though it was no secret multiple male athletes were still competing in girls sports in the state, she believes her censure helped bring the Title IX violations in Maine to light at a national level.
“I would love to see Maine … respond by immediately taking an about-face on this policy that allows biological males to participate in girls sports,” Libby told The Daily Signal. “That would be the right move, the right thing to do to protect our girls and ensure a fair, safe, and level playing field. I do not believe that will happen. I think this will play out in the courts.”
The Maine Department of Education did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment, and the Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School declined to comment.
