The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against the state of Maine on Wednesday, April 16, challenging its refusal to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. This move intensifies a public conflict between President Donald Trump and Governor Janet Mills of Maine.
The Department of Justice argues that Maine’s education department is violating Title IX, a federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational programs. In February, Trump signed an executive order that interprets Title IX as banning transgender women and girls from female sports categories.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the lawsuit at a press conference, stating the Department of Justice “will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports.” She emphasized that the matter also concerns “these young women’s personal safety.”
Bondi mentioned that the administration aims to revoke titles won by transgender athletes in Maine’s women’s sports. “We are also considering whether to retroactively pull all the funding that they [the education department] have received for not complying in the past,” she said.
The lawsuit follows several attempts by the Trump administration to reduce federal funding for Maine’s public schools and its school lunch program. These efforts appear to be linked to a public disagreement between Governor Mills and President Trump during a meeting of U.S. governors on February 21.
During that meeting, Trump threatened to cut federal education funds for Maine if Mills did not adhere to his executive order banning transgender women from female sports. Mills replied, “We’ll see you in court.”
Governor Mills issued a statement defending Maine’s position and accusing the federal government of overreach. She argued that the issue has “never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls” and accused the federal government of “imposing its will” on states.
“For nearly two months, Maine has endured recriminations from the federal government that have targeted hungry school kids, hardworking fishermen, senior citizens, new parents, and countless Maine people,” Mills stated. She added that the state has faced politically motivated investigations that ended without discussion, suggesting predetermined outcomes.
According to Mills, only two transgender athletes are currently competing in Maine schools. A study by the UCLA Williams Institute shows that less than 1% of people over the age of 13 in the United States are transgender.
The dispute centers on differing interpretations of Title IX. The Trump administration argues that allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports violates this law by denying female athletes fair competition and equal athletic opportunities. Maine officials maintain that the state’s laws protect transgender rights and that the federal government is misinterpreting Title IX.
The Department of Justice seeks an injunction against Maine’s transgender policy and aims to return “the titles to young women who fully won these sports,” according to statements from the DOJ. Bondi stressed that whether it’s one, two, or 100 athletes, the principle of protecting women’s sports is at stake.
Maine is not the only state potentially facing legal action from the Trump administration over this issue. The Department of Justice has also threatened to sue Minnesota and California for their policies allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports. The DOJ has stated it does not want to sue these states but wants them to comply with federal law as interpreted by the Trump administration.
The lawsuit against Maine is part of a broader initiative by the Trump administration to reverse policies regarding transgender individuals established by the Biden administration. In February, following Trump’s executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” the NCAA, the governing body for U.S. college sports, banned transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
This decision has had significant repercussions for transgender athletes nationwide. The NCAA ruling affects over 500,000 collegiate athletes across the country, although according to the NCAA president, fewer than 10 of these athletes publicly identify as transgender.
The lawsuit comes as the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to redefine sex in Title IX to correspond with genetics from birth, which would have extensive implications for transgender athletes in sports. However, the bill would require Democratic support to advance through the Senate.
Polling data suggests that the majority of Americans do not support transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports, though advocates for transgender rights argue these policies exclude transgender youth from important physical and social activities.
On the same day as the U.S. lawsuit against Maine was announced, the Supreme Court in the United Kingdom ruled that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex. The court stated, however, that transgender people still have legal protection from discrimination.