Maine’s Governor Stood Up To Trump To Protect Trans Students. Now The State Is Under Investigation
Days after verbally sparring with Maine Governor Janet Mills, Trump is moving forward with his attempts to strip the state of federal funding.
The Trump Administration is officially coming after Maine. On Friday, the federal Department of Education announced it had opened an investigation into Maine’s Department of Education over claims the state is allowing trans women athletes to compete on women’s sports teams. Doing so directly contradicts Trump’s recent executive order, which requires federally funded schools to ban trans students from competing on women’s sports teams.
The announcement came just hours after Trump interrupted his own White House speech to argue with Maine Governor Janet Mills about her refusal to implement the ban. At the time, the president threatened Governor Mills by warning Maine would lose all federal funding if she did not comply with the executive order, to which the governor responded, “We’ll see you in court.”
Related: Trump Goes Head To Head In Verbal Spat With Maine’s Governor Over Transgender Sports Ban
The federal Department of Education is also investigating Maine School Administrative District 51 over claims that a trans student is currently competing on one of the district’s athletic teams. The claim was repeatedly spread by Republican State Representative Laurel Libby, who shared identifying information about the student, including her photograph, on her official Facebook page.
In a February 21 press release, the federal DOE’s acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Craig Trainor, wrote that Maine’s policy of allowing trans women to compete on women’s sports teams “has denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities, thereby violating federal antidiscrimination law.” Trump’s executive order asks federal agencies to interpret the inclusion of trans women in women-only spaces, such as school sports teams, as a Title IX violation, claiming that such inclusion constitutes “sex-based discrimination.”
However, opponents of the executive order have argued that because the Maine Human Rights Act—a state law that protects various marginalized identities from discrimination in employment, education, and public accommodations—includes gender identity as a protected class, it would be illegal to discriminate against transgender athletes in educational sports. The Maine Principal’s Association, which oversees sports in Maine’s public schools, told Maine Public Radio earlier this month that the organization would “continue to follow state law” when it came to the executive order.
Anticipating the conflict, Maine’s Attorney General, Aaron Frey, warned the state would bring legal challenges against Trump if he followed through on threats to cut federal funding. In a Feb. 21 statement addressing Trump’s threats, Frey wrote, “Fortunately, the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine’s laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us.”
Related: LGBTQ Groups Sue Trump Over Anti-Trans Orders
While the investigation sets a dangerous precedent for President Trump’s attacks on political adversaries, it’s not the only inquiry into states believed to be out of compliance with his anti-trans executive orders. As of this week, the Department of Education has also investigated colleges, universities, and public high school sports leagues from California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. Now that the DOE has officially launched its investigation into Maine, it may only be a matter of time before the president follows through on his threats to cut funding, and a challenge in the courts could soon follow.
Responding to the investigation in a Feb. 21 press release, Mills wrote, “Do not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”
