Maine Senators Block Ban on Transgender Athletes in Girls Sports

Lawmakers in Maine are rejecting a ban on transgender athletes, voting down LD 1134, which would block any school that takes state funding from allowing any person whose biological sex assigned at birth as male from competing with girls. The bill would have also blocked them from using female bathroom facilities.A Republican state senator, Sue Bernard, sponsored the bill. She said it was about “privacy, safety, and fairness for all Maine girls and women.” All of the senate Democrats were joined by one Republican to defeat the measure 21-14.Democrats argued the measure would discriminate against transgender athletes.The state house of representatives will still entertain the legislation, but chances of its passage appear remote after the initial rejection by the senate. There are several other bills in the house that would restrict participation by transgender athletes that will still be debated.One of those bills, LD 868, would require sports to be designated male, female, or co-ed. Athletic teams or sports designated as for “females,” “women,” or “girls” would not allow participation by students who are males. The bill does not use the word transgender, but describes a male as “an individual who has, had or will have, or would have but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports and uses sperm for fertilization.”Maine’s position on allowing transgender athletes to compete has gotten national attention. President Trump issued an executive order shortly after his inauguration requiring athletes to play on teams that coincide with the sex they were assigned at birth.Mr. Trump and Governor Mills got into a verbal spat over the issue during a public event at the White House in February. He warned her about complying with the executive order. Ms. Mills replied by telling the president that her state would “comply with state and federal law” and that she would “see you in court.”“You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t,” Mr. Trump replied. The Trump administration has since sued the state over the transgender athlete policy.A Republican lawmaker in the Maine house who has been vocal against transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports was censured in February after posting the first name and photo of a transgender athlete on social media. Representative Laurel Libby was blocked from speaking on the house floor and voting on legislation.Ms. Libby sued and the case made it all the way to the Supreme Court. Justices ruled that she cannot be barred from carrying out her duties as her lawsuit over the censure works its way through court.Ms. Libby reacted to the Senate vote on Thursday, calling it “discrimination against women and girls, authorized by Maine government.” She posted a photo on X that showed all of the lawmakers who voted to support transgender athletes.

Maine Senators Block Ban on Transgender Athletes in Girls Sports

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