AUGUSTA, Maine — A citizen group seeking to bar transgender students from competing in girls’ school sports in Maine says it has validated enough signatures to force a statewide referendum in November 2026, setting up a high-stakes political fight that has already drawn national attention and collided with competing state and federal rules on sex and gender identity.
Leyland Streiff, from the Protect Girls Sports in Maine ballot effort and a co-lead of Maine Girl Dads, said Monday the campaign “officially cleared, and far exceeded, the 67,682 signatures needed” to qualify a citizens’ initiative for the 2026 ballot. Streiff said more than 82,000 Mainers signed the petition over roughly three months, and the group has validated more than 76,000 signatures from 355 towns.
Under Maine election law, citizens’ initiatives must submit signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, 67,682 signatures for the 2026 cycle, by February 2, 2026, according to the Maine Secretary of State’s published deadlines.
The campaign says its proposed law would designate competitive school sports by sex, male, female, and co-ed, and argues the change is “inclusive, safe, and fair,” while keeping sports opportunities available to all students. Streiff framed the referendum push as a response to what he called “inaction and silence” from the Maine Principals Association and state lawmakers.
A debate already boiling in Maine schools
The petition drive lands in the middle of a years-long dispute over whether transgender girls should be allowed to participate in girls’ sports under Maine’s nondiscrimination laws and school sports policies, a conflict that has played out in school communities, the State House, and federal agencies.
The Maine Principals Association, the governing body that oversees high school athletics statewide, has said it follows Maine law regarding gender identity. Maine Public Radio previously reported that the association has maintained its position that Maine’s nondiscrimination protections and the federal government’s approach have been in conflict, and it would continue following state law.
At the federal level, the dispute escalated last year after the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services found Maine education entities in violation of Title IX over policies allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports, warning of possible enforcement action if the state did not change course.
The ballot push, in other words, isn’t arriving in a vacuum, it’s an attempt to settle by popular vote what Maine’s sports authorities and elected officials have not resolved, and what federal agencies have argued violates federal law.
What the campaign is claiming now
At the press conference on Monday, Streiff said the initiative would be “the only citizen-led issue to appear on the 2026 Maine ballot,” and argued Maine could become “the first state where voters can protect female sports at the ballot box.” He urged lawmakers not to pass their own version of the measure and said the issue should be decided by voters in November.
The press conference was held at the Welcome Center at the Maine State Capitol ahead of submitting signatures to the Maine Secretary of State, and it also featured Sofia Pride, a state champion swimmer and a spokesperson for the effort.
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What happens next
Clearing the signature threshold is a major milestone, but it is not the end of the process. The state’s elections office reviews and verifies petitions submitted by the filing deadline, and the measure must meet legal requirements to advance to the statewide ballot.
If it qualifies, Maine voters would decide the question in November 2026, a vote that would effectively place the state’s approach to sex-separated sports in direct conversation with federal civil rights enforcement, state nondiscrimination law, and the policies that currently govern school athletics.
I would love to have the opportunity to vote on this. I am a “Girl Dad” with three daughters that all played sports growing up. I also coached basketball for girls aged 8 to 14.