DOJ Sues Maine Over Trans Women Competing in Female Sports (2)

The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Maine over a state anti-discrimination law that allows transgender athletes to participate in girls’ and women’s sports.

The move is part of a broad attack President Donald Trump’s government is waging against transgender women competing in female sports — which is rare, but has become a lightning rod for conservatives.

“Today’s civil lawsuit against Maine is in direct response to the state’s failure to comply with federal law,” according to a Justice Department statement Wednesday. “The department will continue to use every legal tool available to remedy these violations and protect women’s civil rights.”

The department filed the suit in federal court in Maine Wednesday.

Maine’s school policies “deny girls the equal athletic benefit of public visibility and recognition of athletic competition accomplishment, and increased opportunity for college athletic recruiting and scholarships,” according to the 31-page filing.

The lawsuit alleges that Maine has violated Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments and contractual obligations to receive federal funding.

The latest court action follows a letter that the Maine attorney general’s office sent on April 11 notifying the US Department of Education that the two sides had reached an “impasse.” A state attorney accused the administration of failing to “cite a single case” supporting its position that US law barred schools from including transgender athletes.

Janet Mills

Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg

The Justice Department lawsuit increases tensions between Maine’s Democratic Governor Janet Mills and Trump over the issue. The two had a testy exchange in February at the White House.

Trump warned Mills that his administration would withhold federal funds allocated to Maine if the state didn’t comply his executive order prohibiting trans women and girls from participating in female sports.

Mills remarked, “See you in court.”

In a statement Wednesday, Mills said, “This matter has never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls, as has been claimed, it is about states rights and defending the rule of law against a federal government bent on imposing its will, instead of upholding the law.” She added that “Maine might be among the first to draw the ire of the federal government in this way, but we will not be the last.”

The Agriculture Department notified Mills on April 2 that the department was withholding funds that help the state feed schoolchildren due to Maine’s alleged violations of federal law. In response, Maine filed a lawsuit in federal court on April 7 against the Agriculture Department, alleging it was illegally withholding the funds.

Under Trump, the Justice and Education Departments have created a “Title IX special investigations team” to enforce his order. That refers to a section of a 1972 law that bars schools, universities and other educational institutions from denying women an equal opportunity to participate in sports if they receive federal funds.

(Updates with court filing.)

--With assistance from Cameron Baker.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Elizabeth Wasserman, Anthony Aarons

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