The leaders of the Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine ballot initiative say their legal battle is far from over after the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, upheld the Secretary of State’s decision to invalidate the citizen petition.
In a statement released Friday, the ballot committee said it “disagrees with the Law Court’s decision” and noted that it has already filed a lawsuit in federal court. According to the committee, it intends to seek clarification of a federal consent order that it believes could affect the validity of 1,520 petition signatures.
“The Protect Girls Sports in Maine committee disagrees with the Law Court’s decision and has already filed suit in federal court,” the statement reads. “We intend to see that process through.”
The committee argues that Friday’s ruling effectively blocks more than 71,000 signatures collected in support of the referendum, including signatures it says were previously validated by the Secretary of State earlier this year.
“Today’s affirmation of the Secretary of State’s decision to invalidate the Protect Girls Sports in Maine petition disenfranchises over 71,000 valid Maine voters’ signatures… and their right to petition the government and debate sex-designated sports and spaces in schools at the ballot box this November,” the statement said.
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The initiative sought to place before Maine voters the question of whether participation in girls’ sports and access to certain private spaces in schools should be based on biological sex.
Following the court’s decision, Leyland Streiff, leader of Maine Girl Dads and the Protect Girls Sports in Maine ballot initiative, said the organization’s mission remains unchanged despite the legal setback.
According to Streiff, the group will continue advocating for what it describes as the “voices, will, truth, and rights of females” in Maine schools.
“Our committee continues to believe that the sex-based civil rights of Maine’s most vulnerable population—its children—deserve protecting,” the statement said. “We don’t believe Mainers want sex-based discrimination to continue in our public schools.”
The organization also referenced testimony presented during an April 14 public hearing in Augusta, saying parents, students, and advocates shared concerns about privacy, safety, and fairness in school bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletic competition.
“We won’t turn our backs on the will and voices of the scores of females… that courageously testified,” the statement said, arguing that denying access to single-sex spaces and athletic competition based on biological sex is inconsistent with federal Title IX protections.
The Law Court’s ruling leaves the initiative off the November ballot unless the pending federal litigation results in a different outcome. The ballot committee said it remains committed to pursuing every available legal avenue as the case continues in federal court.
