BAR HARBOR, Maine — Though Rep. Gary Friedmann, D-Bar Harbor, has co-sponsored a five-page bill that would change how Maine school athletic teams operate, he said that he doesn’t support the bill, won’t vote for it and will testify against it at the YWCA MDI Thursday.
Rep. Elizabeth Caruso, R-Caratunk, was the lead sponsor of L.D. 868, An Act to Ensure Equity and Safety in Athletics, Restrooms, Changing Rooms and Housing at Elementary, Secondary and Postsecondary Schools.
The bill’s other co-sponsors included Rep. Katrina Smith, R-Palermo; Sen. Marianne Moore, R-Washington; Rep. John Eder, R-Waterboro; Rep. Benjamin Hymes, R-Waldo; Rep. Jennifer Poirier, R-Skowhegan; Sen. Brad Farrin, R-Somerset; and Sen. Stacey Guerin, R-Penobscot.
The bill’s summary states that its intent is to require athletic teams and sports sponsored by public and other schools be “designated as male, female, or coed.” It does not allow male students to compete on female teams (as those terms are defined in the bill). It also delves into restroom designations, sleeping quarters and changing rooms.
After Amy Roebuck introduced Friedmann during the meeting Thursday afternoon, he talked about it and fielded questions from the approximately 50 people in the audience.
Throughout his life, he said, “I’ve always been totally pro LGBTQ+,” but he didn’t know a lot about the topic of transgender sports inclusion previously.
He said he happened to meet Caruso, and they were talking. He told her he thought they should talk about the bill, he said. She said she had to send it off and asked if he wanted to sign on.
Friedmann said that he thought it was an opportunity to have a conversation across the aisle.
“That was my mistake. And for that, I apologize to every one of you. I should never have put my name on that bill. I don’t support that bill. I won’t vote for that bill. I will testify against that bill,” Friedmann said.
Friedmann said he was uncomfortable with the partisan situation in Augusta and that he reaches out every day to a Republican. He is continuing to try to find ways to work with Republicans outside of the taxation committee, which he is on. “One of my priorities is to try to find out how to work with these issues.”
“It’s really clear to me that this bill has a lot of really terrible things in it. It’s not going to help anyone,” Friedmann said.
He said the issue of transgender girls competing in sports that match their gender identity is a tough one for Democrats, and a lot of Democrats in his caucus are conflicted about it.
People attending the discussion said that Friedmann needed to protect people like themselves and trans men and women from fascism. Friedmann said he was just as mad as they were. He said he represented the people gathered at the YWCA MDI, and he believed in the values of the community, which he labelled as progressive. Some attendees also worried about potentially prioritizing bipartisanship over human rights.
Friedmann said he had not read the bill before signing it. He said a lot of time, legislators co-sponsor a bill and then don’t vote for it. “I just feel terrible.”
Ellen Dohmen said the most heinous part of the bill was the declaration of male and female.
“Who has the right to tell me what I can do with my body or anyone else?” she asked. She suggested looking at the bill and its language in a more foundational way, delving into the government’s role of defining sexes.
The bill defines “female” as “an individual who has, had or will have, or would have but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports and uses eggs for fertilization.” It defines “male” as “an individual who has, had or will have, or would have but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces, transports and uses sperm for fertilization.” It also defines “sex” as the “biological condition of being either male or female, as observed or clinically verified at birth.”
One attendee said trans health care had saved her life. She said there will be thousands of suicides across the state of Maine if trans healthcare is prohibited. Attendees mentioned using Friedmann’s mistake as an opportunity and to get out in front of the issue.
“Put yourself out there, Gary,” one person said. “We will have your back. I don’t know if you can remove your name, but you could certainly be vocal…. You made a mistake, own it, and work on s— that matters.”
The bill also states, “Athletic teams or sports designated as ‘females,’ ‘women’ or ‘girls’ may not allow participation by students who are males. This section may not be construed to restrict the eligibility of any student to participate in any interscholastic or intramural athletic teams or sports designated as ‘males,’ ‘men’ or ‘boys,’ or designated as ‘coed’ or ‘mixed.’”
The bill says that multi-occupancy restrooms, sleeping quarters and changing rooms will be exclusively male or female as defined in the bill. It does not pertain to giving medical help, custodial duties, law enforcement action or aiding during a natural disaster or declared emergency. It continues to say that students may only be in the same sleeping quarters with those of the same sex unless that member of the opposite sex is a family member. Similarly, it states that individuals can’t be in a “state of undress in the presence of others” who are not the same sex.
Another attendee stressed that the narratives surrounding the issue should be focused on the harm that happens to trans students.
Another spoke about the quality of child care facilities in the community, some of which don’t have doors on the bathroom or have stalls.
“This bill would make that illegal,” the man said. “These are granular pieces of our lives.”
He suggested Friedmann speak to child care providers and educators to help understand the bill from their perspective.
During the occasionally testy discussion, Friedmann said he was a man of integrity and didn’t appreciate having his integrity questioned, but, he said, he is human and will make mistakes. He said he’s weighing what to write about the bill in his monthly column in the Mount Desert Islander after digesting what everyone at the assembly said. He said he wanted to use that platform to amplify what he heard during the meeting.
The bill comes during a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has said that Maine was violating federal civil rights laws.
According to recent Bangor Daily News reporting, the federal agency found on Feb. 25 that the Maine Department of Education had violated the anti-discrimination law Title IX by denying girls “an equal opportunity” to participate in athletics by allowing “male athletes to compete against female athletes.”
Title IX is a 1972 law which prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools. Trump signed an executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” meant to prohibit transgender student athletes from women’s sports. In late February, at a governors’ meeting, Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills clashed over the order, with Mills saying that as governor, she was complying with Maine and federal laws, but not the executive order.
Under the Maine Human Rights Act, Maine allows its few transgender students to participate on sports teams that reflect their gender identity. But Trump has threatened to cut off Maine’s federal funding over its practices and launched three federal investigations into various Maine departments and entities.
Maine House Republicans released a statement yesterday via House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, which stated, “Allowing biological boys to compete with our girls, is not only unpopular, and unfair, but it is also illegal. Governor Mills should abandon this indefensible position and uphold Title IX protections for our girls.”
This story was originally published by The Bar Harbor Story. To receive regular coverage from the Bar Harbor Story, sign up for a free subscription here.
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