A group of 29 Maine Republicans sent a letter to the state’s Department of Education (DOE), urging it to comply with President Donald Trump’s federal efforts to protect female-only bathrooms, locker rooms, and sporting events from biological males who identify as females.
The executive order was one of several from President Trump’s first week in the White House aimed at reducing or eliminating the influence of radical left-wing ideologies in federally funded spaces, often imposed under the guise of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives or transgender ideology.
[RELATED: Maine Education Department Tells Public Schools to Ignore Trump’s Order on Transgender Ideology…]
“State representatives are calling on the Maine Department of Education to face reality and walk back it’s ill-advised guidance to Maine schools on harmful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and gender ideology initiatives,” wrote the state representatives, including Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith (R-Palermo), Rep. Reagan Paul (R-Winterport), and Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips) .
“Failure to do so could result in school funding losses and federal lawsuits,” they said.
The representatives reminded the DOE of President Trump’s order acknowledging the biological reality of two sexes and his directive to remove DEI from the federal DOE. That order stated:
“Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women’s domestic abuse shelters to women’s workplace showers. This is wrong. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being. The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself.”
President Trump’s order eliminating DEI from federal agencies, contractors, and sub-contractors did not explicitly refer to public schools, which are controlled by local governments and state governments. However, the order did mandate that “the Attorney General and the Secretary of Education issue joint guidance regarding the measures and practices required to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.”
That directive to the U.S. Education Secretary and Attorney General is a strong indication that the Trump Administration will pursue further steps, such as linking compliance with the order to receipt of federal funds, in order to halt race-based, discriminatory practices in local schools.
While DEI has become a catch-all term to refer to the influence of far-left progressive ideas on schools, government agencies, and other organizations, Trump’s executive order focused on the restoration of merit-based hiring and the elimination of race-based hiring and school admissions preferences, known as affirmative action.
The letter from the Maine Republican representatives expressed support for the order, claiming that it is essential to protect children from the radical gender ideology that allows biological males into women-only spaces such as restrooms and locker rooms, and allows boys to dominate girls in sports.
Maine’s public schools have already seen examples of biological males out-competing female athletes, causing distress in female restrooms, and even being transferred into women’s prisons.
“We strongly support these important steps to protect our children, preserve fairness, maintain the integrity of sex-based distinctions, and renew the focus on education and not indoctrination,” wrote the representatives.
The letter came in response to a priority notice from the state DOE, ordering Maine schools not to comply with Trump’s order.
“The Executive Order ‘Defending Women From Gender ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’ applies to the Federal government/Federal government agencies only and does not inhibit the force of Maine law or locally-adopted school board policies,” said the DOE’s priority notice.
The Maine DOE advised schools that Trump’s order applies to federal, not state institutions, and demanded that schools follow the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA).
The MHRA codifies gender identity as a protected class, and prevents schools from “discriminating” by preventing a transgender identifying biological male from competing in girls sports.
The MHRA, though often cited by far left activists, has been widely panned by critics of transgenderism for its reliance upon a circular definition for its core idea of “gender identity.”
Under the MHRA, “gender identity” is defined as follows:
“Gender identity” means the gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individual’s assigned sex at birth.
In addition to the state guidance issued by Maine DOE, several school administrators sent out advisories of their own in response to the Trump Administration’s Executive Orders on transgenderism, DEI, and also illegal immigration enforcement. In each case, the common theme seemed to be a sentiment that local school officials would endeavor to resist or undermine the policies coming from the federal government.
The GOP representatives nevertheless advised the Maine DOE to comply with the federal directive, claiming that although Maine schools are governed by state law, they could lose federal funding due to their adherence to radical gender ideology.
Additionally, the representatives urged the Maine Principals’ Association to prevent biological males from competing in women’s sports.
“As Legislators, we stand firm in our commitment to ensuring that Maine follows federal law, and will be watching for immediate changes to occur,” said the letter.
The Maine Wire contacted the DOE, asking if they would rescind their previous directive ordering schools not to comply with the executive order, but they did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Read the full letter below:
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="34631 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=34631">4 Comments
The Département of Education is a faller!
Test scores are going down and the decline reflects on your personal and leadership at the top, the governor.
Well it is either that or lose any federal funding. I think we had to raise the drinking age back to 21 in order to get highway funds, back in the day.
Well, if worse comes to worse, the girls on the team may just have to refuse to play… there is no team without the girls…stand up for your rights, protest, have walkouts on the court… it may just make them think..(something Augusta hasn’t done in quite a while now.)
Stop these loser he/shes from playing in women’s sports!