The Maine House voted narrowly on Friday evening to pass a bill that will ban transgender-identifying males from girls’ sports across Maine schools, with support from three Democrats, just one day after a similar bill failed in the Senate with the help of Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford).
“I have talked to some of my coaching colleagues, and had numerous conversations with my constituents, overwhelmingly they are against having biological males play on girl’s sport’s teams. The biggest issues are fairness and safety,” said Rep. Wayne Farrin (D-Jefferson), who broke with his party to support the bill.
He believes that transgender male participation in girls’ sports should be considered at the high-school level on a case-by-case basis, but nevertheless voted for a bill that would constitute a complete ban.
The House voted on a motion from Rep. Amy Kuhn (D-Falmouth) to accept the Judiciary Committee’s minority “ought not to pass” recommendation for Rep. Richard Campbell’s (R-Orrington) LD 233.
Though the legislature more commonly votes to accept the recommendation of a given committee’s majority, it this case the minority report prevailed.
The Senate also voted last week on the minority report for Sen. Susan Bernard’s (R-Aroostook) LD 1134, but unlike the House, they accepted that “ought not to pass” recommendation.
LD 1134 would have banned trans-identifying males from girls’ sports and private spaces, such as locker rooms and restrooms, while the bill accepted by the House, LD 233, only addresses sports and activities, without considering private spaces.
Rep. Campbell’s bill applies to all public and private schools that receive state funding.
The House voted 73-70 to reject the “ought not to pass” recommendation and instead accept the committee’s majority “ought to pass as amended” report. The amendment adopted by the committee attached a fiscal note but did not alter the text of the bill itself.
The fiscal note does not provide any specific costs for the bill but speculates that it could lead to potential legal cost increases for schools that may have to deal with litigation based on the new policy violating the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA), which enshrines gender identity as a legally protected characteristic.
The bill only passed thanks to three Democrats, Reps. Dani O’Halloran (D-Brewer), David Rollins (D-Augusta), and Wayne Farrin (D-Jefferson), who broke with their party to support the bill. Unlike in the Senate, Republicans presented a unified front and supported the bill.
Despite its surprising success in the House, the bill faces an uphill fight in the Senate, with all Senate Democrats and Sen. Bennett opposing LD 1134.
Even if the bill passes through both chambers, Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) would have the opportunity to veto it, and she has maintained her staunch resistance to any efforts from President Donald Trump to protect girls’ sports and spaces.
“I hear you say, ‘we’re targeting transgender women’ but I also look and are we not targeting girls’ sports,” said Rep. Rollins on the House Floor.
The House’s passage of Campbell’s bill on Friday seems to align with momentum elsewhere in the state to bring schools into compliance with the federal government’s current interpretation of Title IX guidance.
[RELATED: Androscoggin District Votes to Put Proposed Policy Change on Title IX to Legal Counsel for Guidance]
The board of an Androscoggin County school district, MSAD 52, voted on Thursday night to instruct its superintendent and policy committee to come up with a plan to reverse rules that allow biological males who identify as transgender to compete on female teams as districts in Aroostook and Hancock counties have recently done.
