What’s going on in Maine?

Something is rotten in the state of Maine. Earlier this month, a lop-sided Supreme Court ruled 7-2 against the Maine legislature, ordering it to restore the vote of Laurel Libby, a GOP lawmaker who dared to criticize Maine’s practice of allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The leadership of the 23rd state to the union wrongly insists that Title IX—a statute enacted in the 1970s to provide equal academic and athletic opportunities to women—allows states to force girls to compete against boys in girls’ sports. This has set Maine on a collision course with the Trump administration and with public opinion.

In February, state Rep. Laurel Libby burst onto the national scene when she criticized Maine’s requirement that girls compete alongside boys in Maine sports. In a viral post, she pointed out that the athlete who won a girls’ pole-vaulting competition used to compete on the boys’ team. 

The Maine legislature censured Libby for her post and for including the athlete's name and likeness. The censure resolution denounced Libby’s statement as “reprehensible” and complained that she had brought “national attention” to Maine. The resolution demanded that Libby “publicly apologize.” When she refused, the speaker of the House barred her not only from speaking on the floor of the House but also from voting. This meant that Libby’s district, District 90, had no representation in the Maine House. Libby’s vote was recorded not as a Yay or Nay but as a Z. District 90 thus had no say in passing the state’s budget, and ironically, no vote on whether Maine should change its law regarding the participation of male athletes in girls’ sports.

The Supreme Court granted Rep. Libby’s request for emergency relief and ordered the clerk of Maine’s House of Representatives to record her vote. Libby had argued to the Supreme Court that the refusal to count her vote was unprecedented. According to Libby, Maine was unique in disenfranchising constituents by failing to record their representative’s vote. Congress, for example, only permits verbal censures unless two-thirds of the body vote for expulsion (in which case the legislator is replaced). The Supreme Court’s order requiring the clerk to record Libby’s vote thus ensures that her constituents are not deprived of their representation.

This is far from the only time Maine has been in the spotlight over women’s sports. Upon taking office, President Trump issued an executive order, entitled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports. The hard-hitting EO noted that many educational institutions have allowed men to compete in women’s sports—a practice the order called “demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls.” The EO went on to explain that allowing boys to compete against girls violates Title IX because it denies girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports. As a result, President Trump announced “it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.” 

This set the administration on a collision course with Maine. State law requires schools to include boys in girls’ athletics. In public high schools, an athlete only needs to declare a female gender identity to participate in girls’ sports. Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, has said that the Maine Human Rights Act requires the state to determine sports eligibility based on gender identity. After the Trump administration initiated a Title IX investigation and found Maine in violation of that statute, Gov. Mills announced that Maine would not comply with the women’s sports executive order. Meanwhile, the Trump administration warned Maine’s Department of Education that its more than $700,000 in federal educational funding was in jeopardy because the State was violating federal civil rights law by continuing to allow males to compete in women’s sports. The Department of Justice then sued Maine, stating that the state is "discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports"

Maine is out of step not only with the new administration but also with public opinion on the issue of men in women’s sports. A January New York Times/Ipsos survey found that 79% of Americans think that women’s sports should be reserved for women. Registered Maine voters agree. A survey by the American Parents Coalition found that 60% of Maine voters would support legislation limiting participation in girls’ sports to biological females. 

Maine would do well to heed these voters. Title IX was meant to provide women with equal academic and athletic opportunities—not relegate them to seeing boys take the podium in female sports.