Over the last few weeks, Maine has made national headlines for refusing to comply with Trump’s demand to ban trans girls from playing school sports. In Augusta, lawmakers are considering bills that would make these bans a reality.
Watch the public hearing on Thursday, May 8. Read our testimony to lawmakers in the PDFs at the bottom of this page.
Right now at the State House, lawmakers are considering bills that would ban transgender girls from participating in school sports. These proposals are being sold as ways to “protect fairness” and “keep kids safe.” But here's the truth: they do neither. In fact, they directly contradict the protections guaranteed to children by the Maine Human Rights Act and would make our schools less supportive and inclusive for all students.
The Maine Human Rights Act became law in 1971. It was expanded in 2005 to protect gender identity and gender expression under the definition of sexual orientation. This means transgender students can participate fully in school life – including school sports – without fear of discrimination.
When there was an attempt to undo these protections in 2005, Mainers overwhelmingly voted in a referendum to keep them in place. This speaks volumes about who we are as a state – time and again, Mainers champion inclusion, belonging, privacy, and the freedom to live authentically. These strong Maine values are reflected in our laws, have passed at the legislature, and have been reaffirmed directly by the voters.
Banning trans girls from playing school sports would chip away at those values and violate the protections in the Maine Human Rights Act. This legislation would harm all girls. For instance, girls whose appearance, femininity, behavior, or interests don't conform to arbitrary and subjective standards of what it means to be a girl will become targets of scrutiny, bullying, and intrusive questioning.
A world in which children’s bodies are up for public debate is not a safe and inclusive one. Our state has a long history of protecting individual rights, from reproductive freedom to marriage equality. We consistently support the idea that all people should have control over their bodies and their lives, without political or governmental interference. Allowing the government to dictate who can participate in public life or how we should manage our bodies is a blatant and dangerous rollback of these values.
Every child should be able to show up as their full self – on the field, in the classroom, and in life. That’s why we're urging our lawmakers to vote against transgender athlete bans and OPPOSE LDs 233, 868, and 1134.
As these bills move through the legislature, we need your help. Talk to your friends, family, community, and legislators about how these bills threaten the safety, privacy, and bodily autonomy of all girls – and open the door to even deeper attacks on our right to live authentically and control our own bodies. You can also take action by adding your name to the hundreds of others urging lawmakers to protect the Maine Human Rights Act.
