The Department of Education (ED) announced Wednesday it has found the Maine Department of Education in violation of civil rights laws for continuing to allow men to compete in women’s sports.
Ed opened an investigation into the state in February after a public spat between President Donald Trump and Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills during which the governor declined to comply with Trump’s ban on men in women’s sports. The investigation concluded the state “has policies and practices that are in violation of Title IX,” according to a press release.
“The outcome of OCR’s investigation of MDOE confirms that it has violated federal antidiscrimination law by allowing boys to compete in girls’ sports and boys to occupy girls’ intimate facilities,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for Civil Rights at the department said in a statement. “Today’s findings and proposed resolution agreement demonstrate to MDOE and any other entity receiving federal funding that the Trump Administration will not tolerate unlawful discrimination against girls and women. If Maine does not swiftly and completely come into compliance with Title IX, we will initiate the process to limit MDOE’s access to federal funding.”
The department sent a letter to the state threatening it with “imminent enforcement action” if it did not agree to a resolution plan within ten days, according to the press release. The potential enforcement actions include referring the state to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The resolution agreement requires the state’s education department to demand all public schools within the state comply with the ban on male athletes competing in women’s sports, update all policies to comply with the directive and require annual compliance reports from all school districts. The state must also restore any female athlete recognitions that were taken away by men along with an apology to the athlete.
Trump signed the executive order on Feb. 5 banning men from competing in women’s sports and subsequently demanded the NCAA restore female records. Several female athletes have been injured after being forced to compete against males, such as 19-year-old Payton McNabb, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after a male athlete claiming to be a transgender female spiked a volleyball onto her head.
Trump and Mills had a fiery exchange at the White House in February in which the president called the governor out for pledging not to comply with the order to protect women’s sports, which Mills responded by threatening legal action against the president.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) temporarily halted funding to the University of Maine system over the same noncompliance issue on March 10, but announced on Wednesday the university is now in compliance.
The Trump administration also announced Wednesday it had pulled $175 million from the University of Pennsylvania over the same noncompliance issue with Title IX.
During his presidency, former President Joe Biden attempted to rewrite Title IX, a rule meant to protect women from discrimination, to include protections for transgender individuals, which was widely criticized for effectively undermining the protections meant for women and faced numerous legal challenges. The rule was challenged and eventually dropped.
The Maine Department of Education did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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