New documents obtained by parental rights organization Defending Education have exposed the activists in charge of running Maine’s Department of Education, with direct orders for school districts to ignore President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
In his first couple of months in office, Trump issued two significant executive orders reshaping schools in America. The first in January was “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” to remove radical gender ideology from the lessons taught in America’s classrooms.
Trump then signed the second executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” in February that now serves as his administration’s guidance for Title IX. This order rules that educational institutions will lose their federal funding if they continue to allow biological men to compete in women’s sports. Maine has resisted the Trump administration’s edicts at every turn in what has led to a troubling relationship between the White House and the state.
The issue boiled over at a televised dinner with the nation’s governors earlier this year. Trump told Maine Gov. Janet Mills that she needed to follow the law and restrict female sports to biological women. Mills refused and responded by claiming that she would see him in court. New documents obtained by Defending Education through a public records request reveal that the problem runs much deeper than just the state’s governor. The Maine Department of Education (MDOE) appears to be captured by activists who want to use their positions of power to influence the state’s schools. These documents contain emails from MDOE Commissioner Pender Makin, policy and government affairs director Courtney Belolan, and other staff in the state’s education department. Emails from Makin were especially incriminatory.
Makin began drafting a letter to send to the state’s schools a day after Trump’s executive order to end indoctrination in classrooms. She explained in this letter that the executive order cannot “overturn Maine laws” and “does not override locally adopted school board policies.” She then penned another letter just the next day reiterating those points to her team.
After Trump issued his executive order to ban men from women’s sports, Makin sent another email to her team explaining once again that they should ignore his executive orders. She explained that the Maine Human Rights Act overrules the executive branch’s authority on this issue.
As dubious as that claim may be, a deeper look at the Maine Human Rights Act also tells another story. The state law makes no reference to transgender athletes or allowing males to participate in female sports. Stating otherwise is a fabrication. When Makin or other Maine officials cite this specific law, they have no ground to stand on with this issue.
Their false claim that state law prevents them from banning men from women’s sports appears to be an attempt by Maine officials to ensure their misguided ideology remains ingrained in the state’s schools. One email even showed that Makin spoke with the executive director of the LGBTQ organization Equality Maine for advice on how to push back against the White House.
Another reason for concern is an email from MDOE’s director of policy and government affairs. The content of the email is not specifically a problem. The issue lies within the director’s email signature. Belolan notably states that her preferred pronouns are “They/Them.” She leads MDOE’s legislative team that is responsible for making policy decisions and helping state legislators craft bills.
Her LinkedIn account reiterates her preferred “They/Them” pronouns. She actively likes posts on the platform promoting gender ideology, such as one post stating to “show up for your transgender and non-binary colleagues.” She liked another post celebrating “International Pronouns Day” in an effort to “make respecting, sharing, and educating about personal pronouns commonplace.”
MDOE’s director of policy and government affairs who helps the Maine State Legislature craft education bills for other people’s children openly and publicly advocates for transgender causes. This individual would likely be a better fit at a transgender rights advocacy organization or a gender clinic where activism is the job.
The state’s education department is a taxpayer-funded entity that serves all families with children in Maine’s public schools, many of whom do not subscribe to the belief that individuals can be a “They/Them.”
While Maine’s governor has been the center of attention in her state’s resistance to Trump, the problem clearly goes much deeper. The state’s education department is teeming with activists who seem to care more about prioritizing their political agenda than ensuring the state’s students receive a proper education.
Gender ideology has metastasized in Maine. Trump and his administration should launch a full-scale investigation into the MDOE to ensure that the source of the problem is eliminated at its roots.
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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