Set against the backdrop of the Trump administration's ongoing lawsuit against Maine, state lawmakers heard a slate of bills on Thursday that would rollback rights for transgender people and ban them from participating on girls' sports teams.
The Trump administration is using the courts to try to force Maine to comply with the president's executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports. And the president's well-publicized Feb. 21 confrontation with Democratic Gov. Janet Mills over the issue, has brought newfound attention to gender identity protections that Maine has had and strengthened over the past two decades. Those protections in Maine's anti-discrimination law are squarely at odds with the executive order and the Trump administration has spent the last several months pressuring the state to comply through various rhetorical threats and frozen federal funding.
While that lawsuit is in its early stages, the Democratic-controlled Maine Legislature finds itself grappling with Republican-sponsored bills that would align Maine law with the president's executive order.
Supporters said the bills are needed to protect female athletes, given the biological differences in size, strength and speed between men and women. But opponents decried the measures as politically motivated attacks on a highly vulnerable population.
Thursday's hearing featured four such bills, but Democrats, who control the hearing schedule, also paired them with other more sweeping Republican measures that would remove gender identity protections from the state's anti-discrimination law, repeal legal protections for people receiving or providing gender-affirming care and bar transgender people from using bathrooms aligning with their identity.
"These are bills that are saying, essentially, trans people don't exist. They can't use facilities at school. They can't live as who they are," said Mary Bonauto, a civil rights attorney for GLAD Law.
The hearing also drew supporters who want to ban transgender athletes from competing on girls' sports teams — the issue that sparked the conflict between Maine and the Trump administration after the president told Mills to comply with his order or risk losing federal funding.
Ava Goulette, a student athlete from Guilford, was one of them. She said she's competed against a transgender athlete in track but that many people are afraid to express their opposition.
"I've watched it keep girls off the podium in track and field. And again, I just think it's incredibly unfair," she said.
Zoe Hutchins of Fairfield, a high school senior who competes in soccer and track, said one her teammates was demoted on the podium after losing to the transgender athlete during a pole vaulting championship.
"It is extremely regressive of our state to allow this and to take these opportunities away from our girls," Hutchins told the Judiciary Committee. "Beyond just having a fair and level competition, these bills are about protecting these girls and our women."
Such views and Trump's pressure campaign have emboldened Maine Republicans to make the issue a centerpiece of their legislative efforts this session. While Democrats control the legislature, they have narrow majorities and public opinion polls suggest that most Mainers are aligned with the GOP's view — at least on athletics.
State Sen. Sue Bernard, R-Caribou, one of the bill's sponsors, dismissed the claim that angst over the issue is disproportionate to the number of transgender athletes competing in Maine high school sports.
"We keep hearing that there are only two transgender boys competing in girls' sports in Maine," Bernard said. "If that's the case, they are two-for-two in terms of their success, proving the point again that biological boys do have an advantage over girls," she said. "And I have to ask the question: what number is the correct number before we say it is unsafe or unfair? All this bill would do is ensure that girls and women have a safe and fair space in the sports realm to compete in."
Such testimony is a sharp contrast with transgender advocates, who described Maine's protections as bringing a sense of belonging and safety. For some, that includes the ability to participate on girls' sports teams.
Soren Stark-Chessa, a transgender high schooler and student athlete from Falmouth, testified that she enjoyed competing against and alongside boys and still considers them friends. But she said, "The issue holding me back was that I wasn't existing openly. And this made it impossible for me to feel truly connected to the kids I competed with, or feel real bonds with them."
The Trump administration has argued that allowing transgender athletes to compete on girls' sports teams violates Title IX, a 1972 law that expanded educational and athletic opportunities for women. Its interpretation is not settled, meaning the lawsuit against Maine could land before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Republican state Rep. Liz Caruso, from Caratunk, said her bill would bring Maine "into compliance."
"It will bring Maine into alignment with Title IX, federal anti-discrimination laws, the NCAA policy, President Trump's executive order and possibly the Olympics will follow," she said. "But it also stops the threat of the loss of any federal funding. Maine can do and must do better for our athletes."
She added, "It will stop Maine from forcing its girls to undress in front of a male or be present with an undressed male in designated private spaces."
Republicans have repeatedly highlighted that transgender people in Maine are allowed to use bathrooms that align with their identity. Opponents, however, counter that implementing new restrictions raises troubling questions about how they would be enforced.
"How will schools determine who is transgender and who is not?" Beth Lambert asked lawmakers. "Will there be forms to fill out, investigations to open? If a student is accused of being trans, who is responsible for verifying that? Will teachers or administrators be expected to examine birth certificates, or worse, body parts? How will parents feel when they learn that educators might be tasked with inspecting or questioning their child's body to determine which bathroom they can use, or what pronoun they're allowed to go by?"
Gov. Mills, for her part, has said that the athletics issue is a debate worth having, but she's also reemphasized her support for transgender rights.
She recently criticized the president for targeting a vulnerable minority group, calling it a "sad and cruel distraction" from Trump's unpopular actions via executive fiat.
Maine voters banned transgender discrimination in 2005 and lawmakers have repeatedly turned aside bills that would undo those protections. In 2021, the legislature embedded additional protections in the law's policy statement.
The Maine Principals' Association, which oversees interscholastic athletics, has argued that it's policy allowing transgender athletes is based on the gender identity protections in the Maine Human Rights Act. The association took no position on the bills heard on Thursday. But MPA representative Jared Bornstein told the committee that the organization just wants lawmakers to clearly decide the issue one way or the other.
"We ask that the Legislature embrace it's responsibility rather than place the burden on MPA, which is an organizing body, not a social, cultural or political deliberative body," Bornstein said.
The office of Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, which is defending the state against the Trump administration's lawsuit, submitted written testimony in opposition to the bills. Frey wrote that the state should be encouraging students to participate in athletics given their potential to improve physical fitness, self-esteem and camaraderie, not singling out a groups of students.
"To be clear, federal law does not require bills like these that limit the participation of transgender athletes," Frey wrote to the committee. "To my knowledge, not a single court has ever held that Title IX or any other federal law prohibits schools from allowing transgender athletes to participate on the team of the gender with which they identify."
At least two other states, California and Minnesota, have also been warned by the Trump administration that their policies on transgender athletes could invite a lawsuit and potential loss of federal funds. Those threats recently prompted Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to file a preemptive lawsuit against Trump administration.
On Thursday, the federal District Court of Maine set an expected trial date of Dec. 3 in the lawsuit against Maine.
