Democrats Kill Bill to Protect High-School Sports in Maine

At Tuesday’s meeting of Maine’s Legislative Council, committee member Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) proposed a bill to protect the integrity of high school sports.

“I guess we’re gonna have another year in Maine of boys competing in girls sports because of the Democrats,” said Sen. Stewart in an interview with The Maine Wire.

The proposal “An Act to Ensure Equitable Treatment in High-School Sports,” would have established a third category in high-school sports, where biological males and females could compete together in an attempt to prevent males who identified as women from competing in women’s sports.

Rep. Stewart’s proposal came as a response to a request from one of his constituents.

His constituent had a daughter who had to play in high-school sports against a biological male pretending to be a girl, and the parents spoke out against the unfair circumstances in which their daughter had to compete.

The parents contacted the Maine Principal’s Association, but the group said that they were uncomfortable doing anything about the issue without having some legal statute to fall back on.

Stewart’s proposal was meant to provide that statute and give a legal basis for keeping biological males out of women’s sports.

His proposal was voted down 3-6, with all Republicans, except Rep. Amy Arata, who was absent, supporting the proposal, and Democrats unanimously opposing it.

In an interview with The Maine Wire, Stewart expressed disgust with the Democrat members of the committee, who were unwilling even to discuss his proposal before voting it down.

“They want to just shove their heads in the sand on this and act like it doesn’t matter when in fact, it does matter and is impacting Maine kids and needs to stop,” said Stewart.

During Stewart’s presentation of the bill, most of the legislative council members could be seen scrolling through their phones rather than engaging with Stewart’s proposal.