Trump Admin Gives Maine 10 Days To Comply With WH, Block Males From Female Sports
The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Maine to take action and ban biological males from competing in female sports, suggesting consequences if the state continues to resist.
On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services’s (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) named Maine’s Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association and Greely High School and said the groups had violated Title IX, according to The Hill. The allowance of biological males to play in female sports inherently discriminates against females, the administration says.
“What HHS is asking of the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, 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,” OCR acting director Anthony Archeval said in a statement to Fox News on Wednesday.
The Monday statement by OCR gave the Maine educational bodies 10 days to adhere to the Trump administration’s Title IX rules. The statement required a signed agreement and threatened consequences if one was not forthcoming.
The Trump administration previously yanked funding from the Maine university system, though the funds were later restored.
Archeval’s statement is the latest shot in the struggle between Maine under Democratic Governor Janet Mills and President Donald Trump’s federal government.
The feud began after Maine refused to honor a Trump executive order to cut taxpayer funding to recipients who allowed trans-identifying players to participate in female sports. Mills threatened legal action if the Trump administration followed through on cuts to funding.
The two leaders clashed during a bipartisan Governors Working Session at the White House in February.
“Is Maine here? The governor of Maine? Are you not going to comply with it?” Trump asked Mills.
Mills replied: “I’ll comply with state and federal law.”
“We are the federal law,” Trump stated. “You better do it. Because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t. And by the way, your population, even though it is somewhat liberal — although I did very well there — your population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports. You better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding.”
