With the state legislature and governor refusing to block biological males from competing in girls sports in Maine, citizens groups are trying to get voters to have a say in the matter.

Organizers have filed a ballot question to “Protect Girls Sports” but it needs around 70,000 signatures to put the referendum on the ballot in 2026. They are launching a signature drive on Election Day to push the initiative.

“We’re excited about it because we could make history. We could be the first state where voters will reclaim common sense and protect girls’ sports,” one of the organizers of the proposal, Heidi Sampson, tells the Sun.

The measure would also clarify the language of the Maine Human Rights Act. Ms. Samspon calls it a “conflicted law” that doesn’t make sense because it is an anti-discrimination law that discriminates against women.

“You can’t discriminate against sex and not discriminate against gender identity. You can’t have it both ways, so it’s one or the other,” Ms. Sampson says.

Maine’s position on allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls sports has gotten national attention for months. President Trump issued an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” shortly after his inauguration requiring athletes to play on teams that coincide with the sex they were assigned at birth.

President Trump and Governor Janet Mills got into a verbal spat over the issue during a public event at the White House in February after she said she would not comply with the order. Mr. Trump 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.

Shortly after, a state lawmaker was censured after posting the first name and photo of a transgender athlete who won a championship on social media. The state representative, Laurel Libby, sued and the case worked its way up to the Supreme Court. The high court ruled that the Maine House of Representatives cannot bar a Republican lawmaker from carrying out her duties.

Ms. Libby is backing the initiative saying in an X post that it would “assure privacy and safety for girls on sports teams and in locker rooms.”

Organizers are confident that they will quickly get the signatures they need.

“I think it’ll be pretty easy to do because this is an issue that is a major issue in Maine,” Ms. Sampson says. “It’s just common sense.”

State Republican leaders say polls show a majority of voters are against biological males competing with girls but Maine lawmakers rejected several bills during its legislative session to keep biological males out of female bathrooms and locker rooms. One bill to prohibit biological males from playing on girls teams passed the house but failed in the senate.

Ms. Sampson’s group, The Maine Education Initiative, issued a formal letter in the summer urging the Maine Principals’ Association to amend its Gender Identity Participation Policy to “ensure fairness and safety in girls’ sports” and immediate policy changes to protect female athletes to meet Title IX requirements that are designed to ensure equal athletic opportunities for women.