The Trump administration initiated legal proceedings against Maine on Wednesday, April 16, challenging the state’s refusal to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports. This lawsuit intensifies the ongoing conflict between President Donald Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills.
The Department of Justice’s lawsuit asserts that Maine’s education department is infringing upon Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs. In February, Trump signed an executive order stating that Title IX should be interpreted to exclude transgender women and girls from female sports categories.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi supported the lawsuit at a press conference, declaring that the Department of Justice “will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports.” She highlighted that the matter also concerns “these young women’s personal safety.”
Bondi mentioned that the administration intends to revoke titles from transgender athletes who have competed in women’s sports in Maine. “We are also considering whether to retroactively pull all the funding that they [the education department] have received for not complying in the past,” she stated.
The lawsuit follows several attempts by the Trump administration to cut federal funding to Maine’s public schools and its school lunch program. These actions seem to be a response to a public disagreement between Governor Mills and President Trump during a governors’ meeting on February 21 in Washington, D.C.
At that meeting, Trump threatened to withdraw Maine’s federal education funding if Mills did not adhere to his executive order banning transgender women from female sports. Mills reportedly replied: “We’ll see you in court.”
In a statement issued Wednesday, April 16, Mills defended her state’s stance and accused the federal government of overreaching. She claimed the issue has “never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls” and accused the federal government of “imposing its will” on states.
“For nearly two months, Maine has endured recriminations from the federal government that have targeted hungry school kids, hardworking fishermen, senior citizens, new parents, and countless Maine people,” Mills said in her statement. She added that the state has faced politically motivated investigations that began and ended without discussion, suggesting predetermined outcomes.
According to Mills, there are currently only two transgender athletes competing in Maine schools. A study by the UCLA Williams Institute indicates that less than 1% of people over 13 years old in the United States are transgender.
The dispute centers around differing interpretations of Title IX. The Trump administration argues that allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports violates the law by depriving female athletes of fair competition and equal athletic opportunities. Maine officials contend that the state’s laws protect transgender rights and that the federal government is misinterpreting Title IX.
The Department of Justice seeks an injunction against Maine’s transgender policy and wants “the titles returned to young women who fully won these sports,” according to DOJ statements. Bondi emphasized the principle of protecting women’s sports, regardless of the number of athletes involved.
Maine is not the only state facing potential legal action from the Trump administration over this issue. The Department of Justice has also threatened to sue Minnesota and California for their policies allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports. The DOJ has expressed a preference to avoid litigation, urging these states to comply with the federal law as interpreted by the Trump administration.
The lawsuit against Maine forms part of a broader initiative by the Trump administration to reverse policies regarding transgender individuals established by the Biden administration. In February, following Trump’s executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” the NCAA, the governing body for U.S. college sports, banned transgender women from participating in women’s sports.
This decision has significantly impacted transgender athletes nationwide, and while the NCAA ruling affects over 500,000 collegiate athletes across the country, according to the NCAA president, fewer than 10 of these athletes publicly identify as transgender.
The lawsuit coincides with the U.S. House of Representatives passing a bill to redefine sex in Title IX to align with genetics from birth, which would have far-reaching effects on transgender athletes in sports. However, the bill would require Democratic support to progress through the Senate.
Polling data suggests that the majority of Americans do not support transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports, though advocates for transgender rights argue that these policies exclude transgender youth from important physical and social activities.
On the same day as the U.S. lawsuit against Maine was announced, the Supreme Court in the United Kingdom ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex. The court affirmed that transgender people still have legal protection from discrimination.
