Maine Governor Janet Mills and her administration have refused to follow President Donald Trump’s executive order interpreting Title IX to limit women’s sports to biological females.
While a majority of states now ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, most of Maine’s leaders have refused to do so. They falsely claim that the Maine Human Rights Act restricts them from obeying federal law, but thankfully there is one elected official in Maine who supports fair and equal opportunities for women – Sen. Susan Collins.
Collins has consistently been the voice of reason from her state this year as Trump and his administration work to bring fairness and safety back to women’s sports.
Whereas Mills chose to be combative with the president and fight back, Collins has stood her ground as a staunch defender of commonsense policies. She explained in a statement a few months ago that Mills’ interpretation of the Maine Human Rights Act to allow men in women’s sports is “contrary” to the “very spirit and intent of Title IX, which was to provide sports and other athletic activities to girls in a safe and fair way.”
She added that Title IX mandated “equal access to athletic resources and facilities on the basis of sex – not on the basis of gender identity.”
In March, Collins voted with Republicans in the Senate to pass the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act that would ban men from women’s sports. While the legislation received a majority 51 votes in the Senate, it could not reach the necessary 60 votes needed to overcome Democrats’ filibuster.
Collins stands with a majority of the residents in her state and the majority of Americans overall.
A University of New Hampshire poll in March showed that 64 percent of residents in Maine were against allowing transgender athletes to compete against women. A national NBC poll in April showed that 75 percent of American adults share that same belief.
Despite support from Maine’s residents and Americans overall to ban men from women’s sports, Mills and her administration have doubled down on their efforts to maintain the status quo.
In her controversial exchange with Trump at a dinner in February, Mills alluded to the Maine Human Rights Act by explaining that “we are complying with state and federal law.” Other officials in her administration have been more explicit. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey stated in April that “we are confident in our read on Title IX and on the Maine Human Rights Act and what’s required of our state.” In emails obtained by Defending Education, Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin cited the state law to advise her team and school leaders to ignore Trump’s executive order.
Their reliance on the Maine Human Rights Act to defend allowing men to compete in women’s sports is flawed for two significant reasons.
The most obvious fact is that state law does not supersede federal law. The Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX is the federal law of the land. The United States Constitution clearly states that federal law supersedes state law.
Another flaw in the Mills administration’s reliance on the Maine Human Rights Act is that the law does not mention or reference transgender athletes or allowing men to compete in women’s athletics. The only reference to sports in the law’s text is that an educational institution cannot “deny a person equal opportunity in athletic programs.”
Considering that biological men can still compete in sports designated for males, Trump’s executive order reaffirming Title IX’s protection of women’s sports is not denying anyone’s access to participating in athletics. Any attempt by Mills and her administration to argue otherwise is deceitful and blatantly false.
Mills, Frey, and Makin are purposely misinterpreting their state law to push their own misguided political ideology onto their constituents who overwhelmingly disagree with them. They are placing the self-perceived importance of their political agenda over the will of the population they are supposed to represent and over the fairness and physical safety of female athletes in their state.
When contrasting their actions to Senator Collins, the difference is night and day. Mills and her administration care more about forcing their disturbing ideology onto others regardless of the damage this may cause to women’s access to sports. In comparison, Collins has stood her ground against her state’s irrational leadership in an attempt to defend women’s rights, even at the risk of making enemies.
Casey Ryan is a writer and investigative reporter at Defending Education.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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