Trump’s HHS Says Maine Violated Title IX in Women’s Sports (1)

The US Department of Health and Human Services is accusing Maine of violating federal law, following an investigation it initiated after President Donald Trump signed executive action that bans transgender women from participating in female sports.

On Monday, the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights announced it had finished an investigation into the state and that its actions foreshadow “enforcement in federal court” according to an agency release.

“The Maine Department of Education may not shirk its obligations under Federal law by ceding control of its extracurricular activities, programs, and services to the Maine Principals’ Association,” said acting OCR Director Anthony Archeval. “We hope the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, and Greely High School will work with us to come to an agreement that restores fairness in women’s sports.”

Trump on Feb. 5 signed an executive action on keeping transgender people out of women’s sports. The HHS’ OCR on Feb. 21 announced an investigation into the state after statements from “the Maine Attorney General, and Maine’s Governor that the state will continue to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports.”

The governor’s office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

In a February response to a Department of Education investigation over allegations Maine violated Title IX, state governor Janet Mills said in a statement that “No President – Republican or Democrat – can withhold Federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will.”

“The President of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed,” Mills said.

The Maine School Administrative District #51 superintendent’s office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Greely High School’s involvement in the HHS investigation. Maine local news WGME reported last week that the school district hadn’t been notified of the HHS investigation.

During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to roll back protections for transgender people and bar them from female sports.

Since Trump took office, the HHS has released guidance defining sex, female, male, man, boy and other terms at the center of politics and rulemaking around transgender people. The agency has also rescinded Biden era guidance on gender affirming care and dropped a federal court appeal of a nationwide injunction on a rule protecting transgender people from health-care discrimination.