After the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Maine on Wednesday, state Attorney General Aaron Frey claimed there are “no concerns of safety” about female athletes competing against transgender-identifying males.
Frey made the comment during an interview on CNN, continuing his state’s defense of letting males play on female sports teams because of their claimed “gender identity.” The DOJ is suing Maine over its refusal to comply with President Trump’s executive order, which interpreted Title IX to prohibit the inclusion of men in women’s sports.
“We’ve been working though to understand what, if any, problem exists with the participation. If some of the harms that are being alleged really are of some concern and what we’ve identified, there really are no concerns of safety,” Frey said.
Safety concerns about males playing on female sports teams are not unfounded, given their obvious biological advantages along with incidences like that of Payton McNabb, a young woman who was seriously injured by a trans-identifying male volleyball player.
Even so, Frey insisted that the safety of female athletes is not the concern of Democrats in Maine. He also said officials are only aware of two trans-identifying athletes competing on girls’ teams in the states.
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“There is just a small number of trans students who are participating in sports, that two number is all that we’ve come up with,” Frey said.
Frey also claimed Maine is following state and federal law by allowing males to intrude on female sports. Maine officials have consistently claimed they are complying with the Maine Human Rights Act, which contains protections for “gender identity,” an element which Maine Republicans want to strip as the debate over transgender-identifying athletes continues.
“Our position is that Title IX, consistent with the Maine Human Rights Act, so both federal and state law, supports that trans girls will be able to participate in high school sports consistent with their gender identity,” Frey said. “So my contention is Maine is following Title IX, Maine is following the Maine Human Rights Act.”
The DOJ’s complaint accuses Maine of “openly and defiantly flouting federal anti-discrimination law.”
“By prioritizing gender identity over biological reality, Maine’s policies deprive girl athletes of fair competition, deny them equal athletic opportunities, and expose them to heightened risks of physical injury and physiological harm,” the complaint reads.
The complaint also states that the U.S. will seek “judgment granting declaratory injunctive, and damages relief for Defendant’s violations of Title IX and the federal funding contracts it signed promising to comply with Title IX and its implementing regulations.”
President Trump’s executive order on “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports” was created to protect female student athletes from having “to compete with or against or having to appear unclothed before males.” The order also mandates each federal department to “review grants to education programs and, where appropriate, rescind funding to programs that fail to comply with the policy established in this order,” which protects women “as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”
Following Trump’s order, Maine officials publicly said they would not comply, siding with transgender-identifying males over women and girls and citing state law allowing students to play on teams that match their “gender identity.”
Then a transgender-identifying boy claimed the victory in the Maine Class B championship for the Greely High School girls’ track and field team in February.
President Trump and Gov. Janet Mills had a public spat on Feb. 20, in which he said at the Republican Governor’s Association dinner that Maine is at risk of losing federal funding if the state continues to allow males to play on female sports teams.
“We are the federal law. You better do it, because you’re not gonna get any federal funding if you don’t… your population also doesn’t want men in women’s sports,” Trump said. “You better comply, or you’re not getting any federal funding.”
“See you in court,” Mills replied.
“Good. See you in court, that should be a real easy one,” Trump fired back. “Enjoy your life after, governor. I don’t think you’ll be in elected office.”
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Both the Department of Education (DoE) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) subsequently launched investigations into the state and ultimately found the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) and other entities in violation of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities receiving federal funding.
Last week, DoE began the process of cutting federal K-12 funding to Maine over the transgender debate. The USDA also began freezing funding to the state, but a federal court ended up blocking the move.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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