Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) joined tens of thousands of Maine voters on Sunday when she signed a petition to place a referendum question on the 2026 ballot to bar trans-identifying males from girls’ sports and spaces.
“Thank you, Senator Susan Collins for signing the petition to Protect Girls Sports in Maine. We need more women and politicians like her that stands up for what is right,” said Facebook User Paul Mills, who posted a picture of the senator’s signature on the petition.
The Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine Ballot Question Committee (BQC) is working to collect 100,000 signatures in order to pose a question to voters next November, letting them decide whether to bar males from girls’ sports, restrooms, and locker rooms.
As of November 23, volunteers had collected over 65,000 signatures. The BQC set its goal at 100,000, which would exceed the 67,682 verified signatures required to put the question on the ballot.
Republican legislative efforts to protect girls’ sports at the state level have proven unsuccessful, and the BQC hopes to put the decision directly into the hands of Maine voters.
Though unpopular among Democratic legislators, efforts to bar males from girls’ sports receive widespread support among voters nationwide – including Democrat voters.
A poll from January shows that 79 percent of Americans, and even 67 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning Americans, believe that men should not compete in women’s sports.
