Groups renew multi-pronged effort to alter Maine’s inclusive trans athlete laws

The group aiming to limit what sports and school facilities transgender students can access submitted more than 4,000 new signatures to the Secretary of State’s office on Monday to put the question on the 2027 ballot, after falling short of this year’s deadline. 

During a press conference in Augusta on Monday, national conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom also announced it is filing a civil rights complaint on behalf of two Maine athletes alleging the state is violating federal protections against sex discrimination. The Title IX complaint is against the State of Maine, two school districts and the Maine Principals’ Association. 

The two actions mark a renewed, coordinated push to roll back Maine’s protections for trans students. One effort seeks to change state law through a ballot referendum; the other threatens legal action against the state and school districts that allow trans students to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity.

Maine has been in the national spotlight since President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025 because of its inclusive policies, which protect students from discrimination on the basis of gender identity. ADF has filed lawsuits across the country “against gender ideology” alleging sex-based discrimination against cisgender girls if trans classmates are allowed on sports teams, or in bathrooms and locker rooms aligning with their identity. 

Tavia Bruxellas McAlister, legal counsel for ADF, cited federal investigations by the departments of education and health that found Maine violated Title IX.

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“Last year, the federal government determined that Maine’s policy of allowing males to compete in female sports was a violation of Title IX,” McAlister said. “As we stand here this morning, Maine has taken no steps to remedy this injustice.”

She said that prompted the national group to get involved and represent Maine athletes who, “despite all of their hard work and their discipline … may be denied the thrill of victory because Maine lets men compete in women’s sports.”

Leyland Streiff, lead petitioner for the Protect Girls Sports campaign echoed that sentiment. “Title IX will be followed in Maine, the question is simply when and how,” Streiff said.

“Either through our ballot referendum in November 2027,” Streiff continued, “or through the crushing legal weight and financial repercussions of civil rights lawsuits that are sure to follow Alliance Defending Freedom’s Title IX complaint if school districts don’t change course and align to federal law.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title IX allows schools to restrict girls’ and women’s sports teams to those assigned female at birth, defining “sex” in this context as biological sex rather than gender identity. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said at the time that the state will continue to defend its inclusive policies.

Protect Girls Sports and ADF have both framed it as a girls’ safety issue, although national research from the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law found no evidence that allowing transgender people access to bathrooms aligning with their gender identity jeopardizes safety and privacy for other occupants.

The two student athletes featured in ADF’s Title IX complaint spoke in support of the ballot measure on Monday, saying they felt competing against trans students is unfair. 

“This is unacceptable and has deprived me and so many other girls of equal opportunity to compete and win,” said Reagan Wilson, a Fryeburg Academy student who said she had competed against trans athletes in soccer and cross country. “Many girls and women are discovering the crushing disappointment that comes from being beaten in their own sports by males who should have never been allowed to compete in the first place.”

Ken Clark, a parent of the other high school athlete listed in ADF’s complaint, accused schools of bullying students by allowing trans athletes to participate in sports.

“It’s time to rattle the cages of the Maine Department of Education, Maine Principals’ Association, principals, coaches, superintendents, athletic directors, athletic trainers in your school, and the school board members,” he said. 

The education department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Renewed ballot initiative 

Protect Girls Sports’ initiative was first approved by the Maine Secretary of State’s Office to appear on this year’s ballot. But following a legal challenge questioning the validity of hundreds of signatures collected by the group, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in July ultimately backed Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ determination that the initiative did not clear the threshold.

At issue were hundreds of signatures gathered by out-of-state collectors who did not follow Maine protocols. Streiff told reporters on Monday that the group had spent several months collecting additional signatures to submit ahead of the Feb. 2, 2027 deadline for the November 2027 ballot.

Ultimately, the group will need 67,682 signatures to be validated by the Secretary of State’s Office. The 4,000 submitted Monday will need to be approved before they are combined with the previously validated signatures.

“We’ve obviously paid great attention to make sure that paperwork is done correctly,” Streiff said, noting that the campaign has “not had anyone from out of state come in and circulate petitions for this last round.”

Role of politicians

During the press conference, Streiff stressed the importance of voting in Tuesday’s midterm elections, criticizing several Democratic candidates including gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree, Senate candidate Troy Jackson and Matt Dunlap, who is running in the 2nd Congressional District, as well as former candidates Nirav Shah and Graham Platner for their support of trans athletes.

They all “publicly and misogynistically vowed to defeat our referendum and ensure males can continue to have unfettered access to girls’ safe spaces and their competitive courts,” he said. 

The Democrat-led Maine Legislature in 2025 defeated several attempts at restricting the rights of trans students, including bills that attempted to change the Maine Human Rights Act. The final language of the petition mirrors that of one of the defeated bills. 

Streiff said another way supportive Mainers could advance the campaign’s proposed changes to state law is by legislators who back similar restrictions. Last year, all bills attempting to limit trans’ athletes rights were introduced and supported by Republicans.

“Who we elect tomorrow matters, as our girls deserve a Legislature that is willing to do the will of the people and enact this bill immediately,” he said.