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A pride flag — including black and brown stripes to represent marginalized LGBTQ+ communities of color and the pink, light blue and white stripes of the transgender pride flag — flies outside a Skowhegan library in 2021. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel Maine first adopted protections for transgender individuals 20 years ago, helping earn the state a reputation as a leader in passing antidiscrimination laws. And trans students in Maine have been allowed to play high school sports consistent with their gender identities for more than a decade.
But now, after evolving over the years without much controversy, those laws and policies are suddenly at the center of a national debate over transgender athletes and a lawsuit by the Trump administration that could cost the state millions of dollars in federal funding. So, how did we get here? Critics argue that transgender rights were pushed too far and too fast in recent years, inviting a backlash. Others say gender politics became the chosen wedge issue of the moment for social conservatives, who lost their battle against same-sex marriage a decade ago.
Conservatives in Maine and across the country first targeted LGBTQ-themed books in school libraries, age-appropriate gender-affirming care and counseling, and access to bathrooms. But it is participation in sports that has become the most potent and divisive front in the new culture war, one that has divided Democrats. “It was basically a case where the far right was throwing anti-trans attacks at the wall and seeing what stuck,” said Logan Casey, the director of policy research for the Movement Advancement Project, an independent nonprofit think tank that tracks equal rights laws.
“Sports bans was one of the ones that really stuck and have now set the groundwork for all of these broader anti-trans attacks in other settings that we’re seeing today.” MAINE IS A LEADER, BUT NOT AN OUTLIER The Movement Advancement Project ranks Maine’s laws as the fifth strongest in the country in prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in public accommodations and the sixth to prohibit discrimination in housing and employment. But Maine is one of 22 states that explicitly prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and one of 23 states that has laws or policies allowing transgender athletes to participate in sports consistent with their gender identities, according to MAP.
In Maine, the policy for high school sports participation is set by the Maine Principals’ Association, which cites the state’s antidiscrimination law as the basis for allowing access. Twenty-five states have laws preventing transgender participation in sports consistent with their gender identities, while two others have policies for the same. Notably, New Hampshire is one of the states with a law restricting transgender athletes, despite having another state law, like Maine’s, prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity.
A temporary injunction is allowing two plaintiffs to play sports consistent with their gender identities while the courts consider a legal challenge, according to MAP. The prohibition against discrimination based on gender identity initially gained its foothold in Maine law in 2005. That year, the state became one of only a handful to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The law, which was sponsored by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci and survived a people’s veto effort, included a definitions clause that also effectively outlawed discrimination based on gender identity. Maine became one of the first three states in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage in 2012.
The U.S. Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states three years later.
Newlyweds Jamous Lizotte, left, and Steven Jones show off copies of their marriage license after becoming one of the first same-sex couples to legally marry in Maine at Portland City Hall on Dec. 29, 2012. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald In 2013, the Maine Principals’ Association developed a process allowing transgender high school students to compete on sports teams that align with their gender identities.
That process, which remained in place for more than a decade, consisted of filing an application for a waiver and participating in a hearing before a Gender Identity Equity Committee — a process that equal rights advocates said was unnecessarily invasive. Between 2013 and 2023, there were 57 hearings, and all the transgender students who asked for waivers got them. While the sports policy initially did not generate significant controversy, trans rights made news in Maine in 2014 amid an emerging national debate about bathroom access.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a school district in Orono violated the rights of a transgender student , Nicole Maines, by prohibiting her from using the women’s bathroom. The court cited Maine’s Human Rights Act as the basis of its ruling. In 2016, North Carolina became the first state to pass a law requiring transgender individuals to use a restroom consistent with their sex assigned at birth.
However, that policy caused swift and fierce backlash, generating widespread calls to boycott the state. That restriction was removed the following year. HUMAN RIGHTS ACT EVOLVES Maine lawmakers returned to the Human Rights Act in 2019 with a number of updates, including giving gender identity more prominence in the law.
Gender identity was defined as “the gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individual’s assigned sex at birth.” Lawmakers argued about how the 2019 updates would change what constituted harassment and who could file claims. Gender identity was never mentioned in any floor debates, however, and the bill passed on partisan lines.
That same year, lawmakers took up a separate bill to specifically include gender identity in the policy statement of the Human Rights Act, giving it even more prominence by explicitly listing trans citizens as a protected class. Two Republicans raised concerns about the bill during the floor debate in the Senate, including the potential that trans girls could play in girls sports and have an unfair advantage. “We must see the truth that God created us male and female and the fact that genetic males have an unfair advantage in competition with genetic females in women sports competition,” said Sen.
Stacey Guerin, R-Glenburn. Sen. Stacey Guerin, R-Glenburn, speaks on the Senate floor in 2019.
Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal “This equal opportunity requirement is fundamentally unfair to girls who participate in sports and can be further spread to other areas that affect women specifically,” said Sen. Lisa Keim, R-Dixfield. “We must stand up for women.
We cannot create laws that will force them to accept vulnerable situations where they can be mistreated.” Democrats dismissed concerns that the bill represented a major expansion of rights, noting that discrimination based on gender identity had been prohibited by the Human Rights Act since 2005. Sen.
Michael Carpenter, D-Houlton, said the change would have no impact on the Maine Principals’ Association or high school sports. “As far as the athletic issue, there is nothing in this law that’s new,” Carpenter said. “There’s nothing in this law that suggests that it will overturn the carefully crafted policy put together by the Maine Principals’ Association with regard to single-sex sports.
Their rules are there. They have been there for a number of years.” Then-Sen.
Shenna Bellows, D-Manchester, agreed at the time, noting that transgender protections had been in state law since 2005. She described the bill as mostly “an errors and omissions bill,” except for adding stronger protections for pregnant women. “But the rest of the bill is simply to clean up and (include a) restatement of existing law that was upheld by the voters and has not been subject to undue litigation in the last 15 years,” said Bellows, who is now Maine’s secretary of state and a declared candidate for governor .
The bill was carried over to the 2020 session, but it died in the House when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and disrupted legislative activity. CULTURAL SHIFTS Around that same time, several other states considered restricting transgender participation in sports. Casey, of the Movement Advancement Project, said Iowa was the first to move forward and enact a ban.
Now, about two dozen states have trans athlete bans. It was also around this time that progressive activists ramped up their focus on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts — a movement sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in Minnesota, which set off massive protests and national calls for racial reckoning. While systemic oppression of Black Americans was the clarion call, the movement also pressed for greater understanding and acceptance of other systemically marginalized groups, including people who are transgender.
In 2021, the Maine bill to explicitly add gender identity to the policy statement of the Human Rights Act was reintroduced at the request of the Maine Human Rights Commission. The commission — a five-member, bipartisan panel appointed by the governor — routinely seeks updates to the act and is responsible for investigating alleged discrimination and issuing rulings in cases that cannot be settled. The 2021 update proposal specifically acknowledged that every student had a civil right to participate in “all extracurricular activities” regardless of gender identity, color, religion or other characteristics.
But the bill was presented as a way to correct inconsistencies within the law, not to expand protections. “(This bill) attempts to update the balance of the MHRA’s protections across areas of application so the Act is internally consistent, and more understandable and user-friendly for the public,” Amy Sneirson, who was the commission’s executive director at the time, said in written testimony. The bill sailed through committee hearings and both chambers of the Legislature, with little focus paid to gender identity.
It passed the House without debate and without a roll call vote count, which is typically called for when deciding controversial issues. Although there was a roll call vote in the Senate, there was no floor debate on the bill before it was approved in a 22-13 party line vote, with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed. House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, presided over the lower chamber in 2021 but declined an interview request through a spokesperson and did not respond to written questions.
Joel Stetkis, a Republican who served as assistant House minority leader, said he couldn’t recall what sort of conversations, if any, his caucus had about that 2021 change. House Minority Leader Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, right, listens as Senate Minority Leader Sen.
Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, left, speaks about legislation related to transgender issues during legislative Republicans’ weekly news conference on April 1 in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal Current House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, was a rank-and-file member in 2021. He said he didn’t recall any major objections about the bill.
But Faulkingham said transgender issues have since become more visible and more controversial. “I’d say the reason why is the accelerated speed (and) progression of this stuff changing. (It) has happened rapidly,” Faulkingham said.
“Even four years ago, we weren’t at a point where the conversation is where it is now.” Conservative political action groups were beginning to bring attention to the issues nationally. Once such group, American Principles Project , tried to interject transgender issues into Maine’s 2022 gubernatorial race to help former Gov.
Paul LePage in his bid to unseat Gov. Janet Mills. APP launched a text message campaign that directed people to a YouTube page that contained ads attacking Mills and Democrats over their LGBTQ policies.
It had limited effect, if any, at the time. Democrats were energized by the loss of federal abortion rights, and Mills went on to win the election handily. In 2024, the Maine Principals’ Association changed its sports participation rules to no longer require transgender students to go through a formal application and hearing process.
The updated rule allows transgender athletes to declare with their local district if they want to join teams consistent with their gender identities, and local school administrations make the final decision on participation. The MPA no longer keeps track of which districts have trans athletes. Two southern Maine students have attracted the attention of conservative critics who have posted photos of them on social media, but officials say they don’t know if there are other trans students competing in Maine, or how many.
SUDDENLY CONSUMING Now, although dozens of trans students have participated in Maine high school sports over the past decade, the emotionally charged debate over trans rights and fairness in sports is suddenly consuming Maine politics and government and creating financial uncertainty in schools and nonprofits statewide. The Trump administration has sued the state and threatened to cut off and recoup millions of dollars in federal funding if the state does not ban their participation. Mills continues to push back against the threats and legal challenges, saying Maine is following state and federal laws and that Trump cannot simply change those laws through an executive order.
One preliminary court decision this month backed up Mills’ argument , but the legal battle is far from over. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Augusta are gearing up for hearings on a slate of bills to address the issue and potentially change the Maine Human Rights Act once again. Republicans are presenting a range of proposals, from passing laws that prohibit transgender girls from girls sports and locker rooms to removing gender identity from the Maine Human Rights Act.
Rep. Elizabeth Caruso, R-Caratunk, speaks on Feb. 26 at a news conference in Augusta about her bill, An Act to Ensure Equity and Safety in Athletics, Restrooms, Changing Rooms and Housing at Elementary, Secondary and Postsecondary Schools.
Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald Some, including Faulkingham, argue the problem can be solved by changing the policy of the MPA. The problem isn’t necessarily the Maine Human Rights Act, he said — it’s the interpretation of the law by state officials and the MPA. “It’s really their interpretation of gender identity that’s the problem,” he said.
“If they hadn’t created a problem with their interpretation of it, I don’t think there would be any issue with it.” MPA officials, who have cited the Human Rights Act as the basis for the policy, are not talking about it. “MPA will not be making further comments on this issue while the pending litigation makes its way through the court system,” policy adviser Jaren Bornstein said in an email.
Timeline: Gender identity in Maine’s Human Rights Act Justice Dept. announces lawsuit against Maine over trans athletes Gov. Mills on transgender athletes lawsuit: ‘I’m happy to go to court’ Comments are not available on this story.
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