Maine governor defies Trump transgender sports ban
WASHINGTON: In a heated argument on Friday, US President Donald Trump warned Maine Democratic Governor Janet Mills that the state could lose federal funding if it fails to adhere to his executive order barring transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, to which unflinching Mills retorted, “We’ll see you in court.”
Trump was addressing Democratic and Republican governors in the State Dining Room at the White House on Friday when he mentioned his recent executive order banning trans athletes from playing women’s sports. He then called on Maine’s governor and asked her if the state would comply, prompting Mills to object.
“You better do it because you’re not going to get federal funding,” Trump told Mills.
The governor then confronted Trump and said, “We’re going to follow the law, sir. We’ll see you in court.”
Trump shot back with, “Enjoy your life after governor because I don’t think you’ll be an elected official afterwards.”
Trump frequently railed against transgender athletes while on the campaign trail. His recently signed executive order has been praised by supporters, who say it will restore fairness, but critics argue the directive infringes on the rights of a tiny minority of athletes.
Out of 510,000 athletes competing at the collegiate level, fewer than 10 publicly identify as transgender, NCAA President Charlie Baker said in January.
Trump is relying on the federal Education Department to achieve the directive’s goal through a revised interpretation of federal civil rights laws. Schools that do not follow these laws can lose federal funding.
The Maine Principals’ Association said two weeks ago it would continue to allow transgender girl and women athletes to compete despite Trump’s order.
Shortly after Friday’s confrontation, the Education Department said in a press release that its civil rights office is launching an investigation of the Maine Department of Education over potential violations of Title IX, which protects against sex discrimination in education.
The investigation will examine allegations that the Maine DOE “continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics” and that it has “denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities, thereby violating federal anti-discrimination law.”
The department said it is also investigating Maine School Administrative District #51, after reports that a school under its jurisdiction is allowing “at least one male student to compete in girls’ categories.”
Friday’s exchange was not the first time Trump attacked Maine over the issue. He threatened to withhold federal money from the state if it did not comply with his order during separate remarks at a Republican Governors Association meeting on Thursday.
Mills responded to the White House exchange in a statement on Friday, saying her state “will not be intimidated by the President’s threats.”
“If the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of Federal funding, my Administration and the Attorney General will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides,” the statement said.
More than two dozen states already bar transgender athletes from participating in school sports, whether in K-12 schools or at the collegiate level.
In January, days before Trump’s inauguration, the House passed a bill to bar transgender women and girls from sports programs for female students nationwide. The bill faces uncertain prospects in the Senate. Transgender people make up less than 1 per cent of adults in the United States, according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, which studies LGBTQ issues.