Maine’s Department of Education, as well as the Maine Principals’ Association and one local high school, are all in violation of Title IX, President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on Monday.
Since his inauguration, Trump has signed executive orders requiring the federal government to recognize only two genders and another titled: ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.’
In the latter order, the Trump administration vowed to rescind funding to any institution that permits trans athletes to participate in female sports. The order directs the Department of Justice to make sure all government agencies enforce a ban under Trump’s interpretation of Title IX, a law against sex discrimination in education.
Since then, the NCAA has amended its policy and now limits women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth, while Maine has disobeyed the order by allowing a trans pole vaulter at Greely High School to compete against girls.
‘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,’ Anthony Archeval, Acting Director of the OCR at HHS, said in a press release on Monday.
Now the OCR is giving Maine, it’s Principal’s Association and the school the chance to ‘voluntarily commit within 10 days to resolve the matter through a signed agreement or risk referral to the US Department of Justice for appropriate action.’
In February, Trump had a high-profile clash with the Democratic governor of Maine, Janet Mills
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Maine became a focal point of the issue when a transgender athlete from Greely won a state championship in pole-vaulting in the girls’ division.
In February, Trump had a high-profile clash with the Democratic governor of Maine, Janet Mills, when he threatened to withhold federal funds from the state over its policy on transgender participation in school sports.
‘Is Maine here, the governor of Maine?’ he asked.
‘I’m here,’ she replied.
‘Are you not going to comply with it?’ he asked.
‘I’m complying with state and federal laws,’ Mills replied.
Trump responded, ‘We are the federal law.’ He again threatened the state’s federal funding and said Maine may be a Democratic state but its residents largely agree with him on this issue.
‘We’re going to follow the law,’ she said.
‘You’d better comply,’ Trump warned. ‘Otherwise, you’re not getting any federal funding.’
Donald Trump challenges Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) over trans women in sports on February 21
‘We’ll see you in court,’ the governor replied.
‘Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one,’ Trump said. ‘And enjoy your life after governor because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.’
Trump made a similar funding threat soon after while speaking to Republican governors. He said that he ‘heard men are still playing in Maine’ and that he would pull funding because of it.
‘So we’re not going to give them any federal funding. None whatsoever, until they clean that up,’ Trump said.
Trump found during the campaign that the topic resonated beyond the usual party lines. More than half the voters surveyed by AP VoteCast said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far. He leaned into the rhetoric before the election, pledging to get rid of ‘transgender insanity,’ though his campaign offered little in the way of details.