The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that it is suing Maine over its policies and laws that allow trans kids to compete on sports teams that match their gender identity.
“The Department of Justice will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports. This is about sports. This is also about these young women’s personal safety,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the press conference announcing the civil lawsuit. “I met many of these women throughout the past weeks and months, and what they have been through is horrific.”
Bondi was joined onstage by Riley Gaines, who has become an outspoken advocate for barring trans women from women’s sports since she tied for fifth place with a trans swimmer at a 2022 collegiate swim meet.
The DOJ is seeking an injunction to bar Maine from allowing trans athletes to compete on sports teams that match their gender identity. Officials allege Maine is violating Title IX, the 1972 civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school programs that are receiving federal funds.
“The State of Maine, through its Department of Education, is openly and defiantly flouting federal anti-discrimination law by enforcing policies that require girls to compete against boys in athletic competitions designated exclusively for girls,” the lawsuit reads.
“We all know this is not about fairness in sports,” Gia Drew, the executive director of EqualityMaine, an LGBTQ+ rights organization, told HuffPost. “It’s a political power grab and, unfortunately, our trans kids are caught in the middle.”
It’s unclear exactly how many trans children are playing sports in Maine, but local media has identified two of them.
Maine has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs since the state’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, got into a spat with the president at an event in February. When Trump asked Mills if she would bar transgender athletes from playing sports, the governor said she would comply with federal and state law. Maine law includes gender identity as a protected class and prohibits discrimination based on that trait.
“We are the federal law,” Trump responded. “You better do it because you’re not going to get federal funding.”
“See you in court,” Mills answered.
The next day, the Education Department announced it was investigating Maine, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture temporarily froze funding for school lunches. A federal judge ordered USDA to unfreeze the funds last week.
Trump supercharged the right’s culture war when he returned to office in January, including signing a series of executive orders that target trans people. His orders have declared that there are only two sexes, have sought to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth, and have said trans girls and women cannot participate in girls sports.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has also been on a crusade to ban trans kids from playing sports. The agency has sent letters to multiple states, warning they are at risk of losing their federal funding if they don’t comply with Trump’s ban.
Maine, however, refused to bend the knee.
“The Maine Department of Education will now have to defend its discriminatory practices before a Department administrative law judge and in a federal court against the Justice Department,” Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Education Department, said in a statement last week. “Governor Mills would have done well to adhere to the wisdom embedded in the old idiom — be careful what you wish for. Now she will see the Trump Administration in court.”
Cutting off federal resources to an entire state appears to be unprecedented. The last time a single school district lost federal funding was 1990, according to Education Week — and that was after a prolonged investigation.
Losing such funding would be a major blow for the state of Maine. The state’s Education Department has spent, on average, $250 million in federal funds each year in the past decade, according to The Maine Monitor.
“It puts a lot of pressure on our state,” Drew said. “We are poorer, and we depend on those federal dollars to support our schools.”
We Don’t Work For Billionaires. We Work For You.
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
“Today is the latest, expected salvo in an unprecedented campaign to pressure the State of Maine to ignore the Constitution and abandon the rule of law,” Mills said in a lengthy statement on Wednesday. “Let today serve as a warning to all states: Maine might be among the first to draw the ire of the Federal government in this way, but we will not be the last.”
The Education Department also has open investigations in Minnesota, California, Washington and Oregon over trans kids playing sports.
“There’s going to be a lot of pressure on elected officials to capitulate, thinking they can get the [federal funding] back,” Drew said. “But once you start negotiating with terrorists, they want more. Once you hand over the trans community, they’re just going to say, ‘Who’s next?’”
<div class="js-react-hydrator" data-component-name="RelatedArticles" data-component-id="9889" data-component-props="{"index":29,"contentIndexByType":1,"contentListType":"relatedArticles","blockTitle":"Related…","articlesList":[],"showArticlesPics":true,"flags":[],"shouldShowRecommended":true,"isRecommended":true,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://www.huffpost.com","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"67ffd7cce4b0cc0115772bc4","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-doj-maine-trans-kids_n_67ffd7cce4b0cc0115772bc4","entryTagsList":"lgbtq,department-of-justice,trans,maine","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayer":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22","noAdsPlayer":"deeeda04-49cb-4a1d-ac6c-c388a685b58e"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://image.cdnwindow.com/image/wordpress/2025/04/20250416184002687.jpg","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":11},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"67ffd7cce4b0cc0115772bc4","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"LGBTQ","slug":"lgbtq","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/lgbtq","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/lgbtq","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/lgbtq"},"department":{"name":"Voices","slug":"voices"},"section":{"title":"Queer Voices","slug":"queer-voices"},"topic":{"title":"Queer Life","slug":"queer-life","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/voices/topic/queer-life"},{"name":"department of justice","slug":"department-of-justice","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/department-of-justice","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/department-of-justice","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/department-of-justice"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"United States Department of Justice","slug":"us-department-of-justice","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/us-department-of-justice"},{"name":"trans","slug":"trans","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/trans","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/trans","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/trans"},"department":{"name":"Voices","slug":"voices"},"section":{"title":"Queer Voices","slug":"queer-voices"},"topic":{"title":"Transgender","slug":"transgender","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/voices/topic/transgender"},{"name":"Maine","slug":"maine","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/maine","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/maine","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/maine"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"U.S. News","slug":"us-news"},"topic":{"title":"Maine","slug":"maine","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/maine"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"backfillRelatedArticles":[],"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["
rnrn HPGam.cmd.push(function(){rnttreturn HPGam.render(“inline-1”, “entry_paragraph_1″, false, false);rn });rnrn”,”
rnrn HPGam.cmd.push(function(){rnttreturn HPGam.render(“inline-2”, “entry_paragraph_3″, false, false);rn });rnrn”,”
rnrn HPGam.cmd.push(function(){rnttreturn HPGam.render(“inline-infinite”, “repeating_dynamic_display”, false, false);rn });rnrn”],”adCount”:0}}”>
发表回复