The months-long political battle over transgender athletes competing on girls' sports teams will land in the Maine Legislature on Thursday, as the Judiciary Committee will hold public hearings on a slate of Republican proposals to ban the practice.
Most of the bills take aim at the Maine Human Rights Act and gender identity protections that have existed for years, but have recently been criticized by Republicans and President Donald Trump.
They say that those protections are unfair to female athletes and violate the spirit of Title IX, a 1972 law meant to expand opportunities for women.
The GOP and affiliated interest groups are expected to turn out big crowds for the hearings, but Bre Danvers-Kidman, executive director of Maine Trans Net, hopes lawmakers won't jettison the rights of transgender people.
"This is bait. The federal government is trying to see if we will sacrifice each other. Don't take the bait, because if the legislature can take away the human rights of one small group, they can take away everyone's human rights. If they can do it to us, they can do it to you," Danvers-Kidman said.
Danvers-Kidman was referring to the ongoing pressure campaign by the Trump administration to comply with the president's executive order banning transgender athletes from competing on girls' sports teams.
The issue has simmered for months and is now subject of a lawsuit by the Trump Administration against the state as it attempts to pull Maine's $250 million in federal education funding.
Esta Pratt-Kielley contributed reporting to this story through an interview with Bre Danvers-Kidman.
