The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building pictured on Nov. 25, 2024. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
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The U.S. Department of Education notified Maine late Wednesday that its Department of Education was found in violation of a federal civil rights rule that bans sex-based discrimination in schools.
The letter, addressed to Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin from the U.S. DOE Office for Civil Rights, said the determination is based on state and district policies that permit transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports. It gives the state ten days to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender girls from playing girls’ sports.
Maine public schools follow the Maine Human Rights Act, which was amended in 2021 to include gender identity as a protected class against discrimination. Title IX, the federal law banning sex-based discrimination does not reference trans people directly, but the Trump administration is interpreting the Maine’s policy as discrimination against cisgender girls.
Several federal probes were launched against the state following a clash between Gov. Janet Mills and Trump over trans inclusion in girls’ sports.