Most Maine residents do not believe transgender athletes should compete in girls’ and women’s sports, a University of New Hampshire poll released Thursday showed.
The survey came as the Trump administration’s deadline for the state to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to bar biological males from girls’ and women’s sports came. Maine refused to comply with the order and the Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights referred the state’s “noncompliance with Title IX” to the Justice Department.
The poll showed that 64% of Maine residents believe transgender athletes “definitely should not” or “probably should not” participate in girls’ and women’s sports. Only 29% of Maine residents believed that transgender athletes “probably should” or “definitely should” compete against girls and women in sports.
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Gov. Janet Mills attends an event, March 11, 2022, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
The poll also showed that 56% of Maine Democrats believe that transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in girls’ and women’s sports.
When it came to enacting policies to combat the issue of transgender participation in sports, the poll showed that 50% of Maine residents wanted it at the federal level, while 41% believe policy should be left up to the states.
Around 1,057 Maine residents completed the poll between March 20 and 24 with the margin of error being around 3%.
The poll’s results came as Maine officials continued to thumb their nose at Trump’s “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order, which he signed in February.
“Today, OCR referred Maine’s noncompliance with Title IX to @TheJusticeDept for enforcement in court for continuing to unlawfully allow males to compete against females,” the department announced in a social media post on Friday.
“HHS will continue to protect women’s sports and keep the promises of Title IX for America’s women and girls.”
The Maine School Administrative District 51, home to Greely High School, where a transgender athlete incited national controversy after winning a girls’ pole vault competition in February, said Thursday it was not complying and will instead “continue to follow state law and the Maine Human Rights Act.”
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The State House is seen in Augusta, Maine, on June 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
The Maine Principals’ Association said in a statement it is also “bound by the law, including the Maine Human Rights Act, which our participation policy reflects.”
The situation involving the trans athlete at Greely High School attracted national attention after Maine Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby identified the athlete by name with a photograph in a social media post. Libby was later censured by the Maine legislature, and she has since filed a lawsuit to have it overturned.
Libby reacted to the OCR’s referral to the DOJ on Saturday.
Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby reacted to the OCR’s referral to the DOJ. (Fox News)
“Gov. Mills and the Democrat majority refusal to comply with federal Title IX protections has now resulted in Maine being officially referred to the Department of Justice. This is a direct consequence of their radical policies that put ideology ahead of fairness and safety for Maine girls and the education of our students,” Libby told Fox News Digital.
“Mainers believe in common sense, fairness and protecting the rights of women and girls in sports and spaces. While this extreme stance does not reflect the values of our state, it is ultimately Maine’s schools, students and taxpayers who will suffer the consequences of their reckless decisions and ongoing feud with biological reality.”
Representatives for Mills or Maine Attorney General Anthony Frey have not responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Trump’s issue with the state of Maine came to a head at a meeting of the National Governors Association in late February.
Trump threatened to cut federal funding to the state for not banning biological males from girls’ and women’s sports.
The next day, Mills’ office responded with a statement threatening legal action against the Trump administration if it did withhold federal funding from the state. Then, Trump and Mills verbally sparred in a widely publicized argument at the White House during a bipartisan meeting of governors.
“Are you not going to comply with that?” Trump asked Mills.
Since then, multiple protests against Mills have been held outside the state Capitol, and the Maine University System has cooperated with the Trump administration to ensure no trans athletes compete in women’s sports after a temporary funding pause.
The OCR announced earlier this month it found the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School in violation of Title IX for continuing to enable trans inclusion in girls’ sports.
OCR Acting Director Anthony Archeval previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital warning of potential consequences for continued defiance of the executive order.
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“What HHS is asking of the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) and Greely High School is simple — protect female athletes’ rights. Girls deserve girls-only sports without male competitors. And if Maine won’t come to the table to voluntarily comply with Title IX, HHS will enforce Title IX to the fullest extent permitted by the law,” Archeval said.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
