Maine declared in violation of Title IX over trans athlete policy

(The Center Square) — The Trump administration says Maine is in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws for allowing transgender student athletes to compete in women's sports.

In a letter to Gov. Janet Mills and other state leaders, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights said an investigation has determined that Maine’s Department of Education is in violation of Title IX, a 1972 civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.

The Feb. 25 letter, first reported by the Portland Press Herald, said the state is allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls' sports in defiance of President Donald Trump's “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" executive order banning the practice and threatening to withhold federal funding.

HHS said it has referred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice with a recommendation that "appropriate proceedings be brought to enforce any rights" under federal law. The agency pointed out that Maine DOE received about $703,000 in federal funding in the previous fiscal year.

Trump has vowed to withhold federal funding from any states that fail to comply with his executive order banning transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports. He clashed publicly with Gov. Janet Mills during a meeting of governors last month over her refusal to comply with his order, with Mills yelling, "See you in court" after Trump threatened to pull funding from her state.

Shortly after the testy exchange, the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights division announced it was conducting an investigation to determine if it is violating Trump's ban on transgender women athletes.

The Trump administration is also probing a Maine school district after reports that school officials are allowing a male student to compete in girls’ categories, in violation of Trump's executive order.

Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to Mills last week and warned that if the investigations determined that Maine was "denying girls an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events," she would pursue legal action against the state.

Maine Republicans, who criticized the state's Democratic leaders for defying Trump's executive order, welcomed the HHS' determination that the state is in violation of the Title IX law.

"Enough is enough, it is time to put away radical ideology and put the future of our kids first," Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith, R–Palermo, said in a statement. "The Mills administration’s policy of allowing biological boys in girls’ sports has physically and mentally mistreated our young ladies and now this same policy will harm every child and teacher with the loss of federal funds to our schools."