Several hundred people rallied at the State House on Saturday to oppose policies allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports in Maine.
Rally-goers held signs declaring “Protect our girls” and “No men in women’s sports” as they listened to roughly a dozen speakers. Those included a high school athlete from Presque Isle who said she has had to compete against biological males, as well as multiple Republican state lawmakers who argued that Maine’s policy puts young female competitors at an unfair competitive disadvantage as well as at physical risk.
Republican Rep. Liz Caruso of Caratunk was among several lawmakers who urged attendees to also show up for future hearings on bills to reverse Maine’s current policy allowing athletes to compete in sports based on their “gender identity.”
“As much as I am grateful for the national attention that has been coming to Maine, really none of this is going to change anything unless we change something in that building right there,” Caruso said while motioning to the State House.
Maine has been in the national spotlight ever since another Republican state lawmaker, Rep. Laurel Libby of Auburn, posted on social media the picture and name of a high school transgender athlete who had won a girls’ track and field championship. The post quickly went viral and eventually came to the attention of President Donald Trump, who had signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s and girls sports.
Trump later publicly clashed with Gov. Janet Mills in a brief-but-tense exchange that drew national attention. When Trump pressed Mills on whether Maine would comply with the executive order, the governor said the state was following state and federal law and that she would “See you in court.”
The Trump administration responded with investigations into Maine’s compliance with Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against women in educational settings. The administration has also sought to withhold millions of dollars in federal funding from the state, although some was later restored.
Many attending Saturday’s “Girl First” rally wore pro-Trump hats and clothing. And all of the lawmakers who spoke were Republican, although numerous polls suggest that a large majority of Americans oppose allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports.
Saturday’s rally featured Chloe Cole of California, who received transition treatment and surgery as a young teenager but who now advocates nationally against gender-affirming care.
“Maine’s Human Rights Act was amended four years ago to include gender identity as a protected characteristic,” Cole said. “But we all understand that it is not a human right for a man to assert himself as a woman and to infringe upon real women’s fairness, privacy and safety.”
Maine’s Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in school extracurricular activities based on the individual’s “gender identity.” The Maine Principals’ Association has said its policy is based on that state law but that only two transgender athletes are competing in high school sports statewide.
Rep. Laurel Libby, the Auburn lawmaker whose social media post helped re-ignite the debate over transgender athletes in Maine, was notably absent from Saturday’s rally, at least at the microphone.
Democrats censured Libby in the Maine House for her post, accusing her of endangering the welfare of the juvenile athlete for political purposes. Libby responded by suing House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, alleging the censure violates her and her constituents constitutional rights because she is not allowed to speak or vote on the House floor until she formally apologizes.
