The Democratic-controlled Maine Senate voted Thursday night to reject a bill that would ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women sports.
For more than an hour, senators debated an issue that has thrust Maine into the national political spotlight as the Trump administration targets the state with lawsuits and threats to rescind federal funding. The 21-14 vote against the bill was an early victory for defenders of Maine's policy of allowing athletes to compete based on their gender identity.
"Passing this bill would contradict the character of our state and the values we instill in our children," Sen. Stacey Brenner, D-Scarborough, said during a floor speech.
But the debates will likely be longer — and the voting margins potentially slimmer — when the more closely divided Maine House takes up the bill and roughly a half-dozen others dealing with transgender rights in the coming days.
"We are taking the wrong approach by opening up such a great tradition that is girls' and women's sports in Maine, and somebody has to stand up for it," said Sen. Jim Libby, R-Standish, a longtime teacher and coach who opposes Maine's current policy.
The issue has dominated the political debate in Maine at times this year even though there are only two known transgender athletes competing in high schools sports this school year out of tens of thousands of athletes.
The bill that hit the Senate floor on Thursday night, LD 1134, would prohibit state-funded K-12 schools and colleges from allowing someone who was born male from competing in an all-girls sport or using girls' facilities such as locker rooms.
The bill's lead sponsor, Republican Sen. Sue Bernard of Caribou, sought to highlight the athletic and physical differences between biological males and females by pointing to the sizable gaps between the genders in the high school records in Maine for several track and field events.
"Acknowledging this advantage is not disrespecting the trans community," Bernard said. "I'm not disrespecting the trans community with this bill. I'm merely recognizing biological strengths and differences that exist."
But opponents predicted that the bill will only create more negative environments in schools and further alienate already vulnerable young people just trying to fit in.
"We should ensure the environment we create for our children is one where they feel comfortable walking the halls, making friends and going about their daily lives, not one where they feel unwelcome or unwanted," said Sen. Henry Ingwersen, D-Arundel.
The 21-14 vote was largely along party lines, with one Republican, Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford, joining Democrats in opposing the bill. Likely breaking with most of the rest of his party, Bennett signaled that he would also oppose the other bills on the issue.
"I'll be voting on these bills not just because they are unnecessary or legally flawed or based on fear rather than facts but because I believe in a Maine where every child knows they belong," Bennett said. "Where every young person no matter their identity can grow up in a community that sees them, protects them and values their humanity."
Maine has been in the national spotlight for months, ever since Republican Rep. Laurel Libby of Auburn criticized the state's policy by posting a picture on Facebook of a transgender athlete who had just won a high school girls' track championship. The post quickly went viral and, days later, President Trump singled out Maine as he threatened to cut off federal funding unless the state complied with his executive order banning transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, now famously responded "See you in court." Months later, that statement has rung true as the state and the Trump administration have filed lawsuits against each other.
The Maine House is expected to take up LD 1134 and the other bills in the coming days. Some of those bills seek to change the Maine Human Rights Act's language prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity. The Maine Principal's Association has said that non-discrimination law is the basis for the current policy governing participation in scholastic sports.
