The U.S. Department of Education has started looking into the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) because of claims that it is still letting boys compete on girls’ sports teams, going against President Donald Trump’s executive order.
This investigation began after officials in Maine’s school sports system announced last week that they would ignore Trump’s order, which is meant to protect women’s and girls’ sports, in favor of a state law that supports “gender identity.” Just recently, a transgender boy won a girls’ pole vault event at a high school competition in Maine.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor commented, saying that Maine seems to think it has no choice but to follow its own laws, allowing male athletes to compete against female athletes.
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 Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a letter to Maine’s Education Commissioner, Pender Makin, to let her know they are starting an investigation. This is because there are claims that the state is allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports and not providing girls with private facilities, which could break federal laws against discrimination, according to a press release from the agency.
The letter also mentioned that OCR is looking into Maine School Administrative District #51 (MSAD #51) after a report that a boy won the Maine Class B championship while competing for the Greely High School girls’ track and field team on Monday.
This investigation comes after former President Trump criticized Maine on February 20 during a dinner for the Republican Governor’s Association. He warned that the state might lose federal funding if it keeps letting boys play on girls’ teams.
On Friday, Trump confronted Maine Governor Janet Mills during a meeting at the White House, urging her to follow his directive. He said, “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. You better comply, or you’re not getting any federal funding.”
“See you in court,” Mills replied.
Trump responded, “Great. I’ll see you in court, and that should be a piece of cake.” He added, “Have fun with your life afterward, governor. I doubt you’ll hold any elected position again.”
Mills and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey are determined to stand up against Trump.
On February 5, President Trump signed an executive order that prevents transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports. As a result, federal Title IX regulations were changed, and schools that don’t follow this order could lose their federal funding.
Last week, the Maine Principals Association (MPA) announced that it will not follow Trump’s executive order that aims to protect women’s sports.
MPA executive director Mike Burnham explained, “The executive order conflicts with our Maine state Human Rights Act, and the MPA will stick to state law about gender identity.”
He also mentioned that he is “telling all schools in Maine to adhere to the Maine Human Rights Act” and will not create any policies that go against it.
Burnham stated that the MPA staff will keep a close eye on any updates from federal and state officials about how the president’s executive order might affect high school sports participation and will change its policies if needed.
Athletic groups in California and Minnesota have also rejected Trump’s order that protects women and girls’ sports teams from being affected by trans-identifying male athletes.
In reaction, Trump’s Department of Education sent letters last week to both the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), informing them that they are being investigated by the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
