Augusta hosted a showdown on May 7 between proponents of measures to restore girls’ school sports to biological females and those who want Maine’s current policy allowing those born male but who identify as female to play on girls’ teams in competitions they often dominate.
The Maine State Legislature’s Judiciary Committee dedicated Thursday to public hearings on eight bills regarding trans-identifying persons, largely focusing on biological males participating in female sports or using women’s only spaces such as locker rooms or restrooms.
Thursday marked the first instance of such a focus on these questions since Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) was censured by House leadership in March.
Republican sponsors testified in support of their bills, as dozens of members of the public lined up to voice their views on them as well. Many people spoke in favor of the bills, including high-school girls impacted by policies forcing them to compete against males in sports, though proponents appeared to be outnumbered by numerous, vocal LGBTQ activists.
Committee member Rep. Adam Lee (D-Auburn) recused himself from Thursday’s hearing, because his law practice represents the Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) which oversees school sports and supports the current state policy allowing biological males to identify as female and play on girls’ teams.
Rep. Dick Campbell (R-Orrington) introduced LD 233 at the beginning of the current session in January, a month before the now infamous dust-up between Governor Mills and President Trump. Rep. Campbell had introduced a similar bill in the pervious session, which he carried over. It is short and straightforward and seeks to simply bar biological males from female sports.
“This bill prohibits a school administrative unit or an elementary school, secondary school or postsecondary educational institution in the State that receives any state funding from allowing a person whose biological sex assigned at birth is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for females,” the bill’s summary reads.
Rep. Liz Caruso (R-Caratunk) gave a very lengthy testimony on her two bills up before the Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
LD 868 also bars biological males from participating in female school sports, but goes a step further by requiring schools to ensure separate facilities for the respective genders.
“The bill requires public schools, public charter schools and public postsecondary education institutions to designate restrooms, changing rooms and sleeping quarters as for use by either only females or only males with limited exceptions,” it reads.
Rep. Caruso’s first measure drew seven Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Gary Friedmann of Bar Harbor, as co-sponsors.
Her second bill, LD 1337, would amend the Maine Human Rights Act to exempt emergency shelters for women as “places of public accommodation,” or, in other words, allowing them to be restricted solely to biological females. It also seeks to reinforce under state law the provisions of Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972 as they pertain to the discrimination against women in sports.
This measure drew nine Republican co-sponsors, including minority leadership in both chambers.
Sen. Sue Bernard (R-Aroostook) sponsored a bill, LD 1134, that would both bar biological males from female sports and protect the integrity of gendered facilities. Legislation sponsored by Rep. Katrina Smith (R-Palermo), LD 1139, focuses the same intent on school restrooms.
Leaving the state house on Thursday afternoon, Rep. Smith called it a “sad day,” noting that there had been a bigger turnout by pro-trans activists than defenders of girls’ sports in part, she speculated, because the hearing was held on a week day. She noted that some of those who testified against the Republican bills came to the podium with stuffed animals.
Rep. Sheila Lyman’s (R-Livermore Falls) LD 1002 would require schools to refer to students by their gender as indicated on their birth certificates and drew nine Republican co-sponsors.
LD 1432, introduced by Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips), strikes at the heart of Gov. Mills’ legal argument for resisting President Trump’s executive order on transgenders in school sports by removing gender identity from the Maine Human Rights Act.
Penobscot County State Senator David Haggan (R) took a different route with LD 380, which opens the door for health care providers who perform gender re-assignment services to face liability, and removes protections they enjoy under current state law.
Meanwhile, Down East, the school board for the district covering Hancock and Washington counties, RSU 24, voted on Wednesday by a 7–1 margin to repeal a 2019 policy that allowed transgender-identifying students to participate in girls’ sports. House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), whose district falls within RSU 24, hailed the decision.
“I applaud and support the board’s courage and action on this matter,” Rep. Faulkingham said.
RSU 24 joins Aroostook County’s MSAD 70 in adopting policies in line with the federal guidance and at odds with the Maine Principals’ Association and Maine Department of Education.
Leaving the state house on Thursday late afternoon, Faulkingham recounted that “a transgender gentleman” had confronted him, screaming “look at what you’ve created, look at what you’ve done.” That outburst, the Winter Harbor representative said, struck him as “very out of touch.”
