Donald Trump has a new ally in his fight against Maine governor Janet Mills over the inclusion of transgender athletes in girls and women’s scholastic sports.
A school board in Hodgdon, Maine has voted unanimously to side with the President’s demands by ‘recognizing only two sexes – biological male and biological female and that all private spaces be separated by biological sex.’
As a result, MSAD #70 superintendent Tyler Putnam told Fox News he’s now required to ban trans athletes from girls’ sports in the heavily pro-Trump district abutting the Canadian border.
‘The motion directs me to rewrite our policies to adhere to the motion,’ Putnam told Fox. ‘It is my interpretation that the school board will be looking to approve policies that align biological sex to their specific athletic teams too i.e. biological males will be playing with only other biological males and same for biological females.
‘These policies will need to be approved by the policy committee and the board once rewritten.’
Republican Maine state Representative Tracy Quint was quick to praise his constituents for the decision.
Democratic Governor Janet Mills has sparred with Donald Trump over transgender athletes
Trump shows off his skills while hosting the Navy football team on Tuesday in Washington
‘I’m encouraged to see our local Maine community standing up for our students by upholding Title IX protections,’ Quint told Fox News. ‘Ensuring fairness, safety and privacy for every student should always come before politics. I urge other school districts across the state to follow this example and prioritize the well-being of all their students.’
The board’s ruling comes amid a mushrooming culture and budgetary war between the Trump administration, which vehemently opposes trans athletes in female sports, and Mills, who has vowed to uphold the state’s laws.
As a result of the dispute, Trump has cut federal funding to Maine, leading to what many predict will be a lengthy legal battle.
Last week, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze funds intended for a Maine child nutrition program that were suspended.
A letter from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins explained the decision stemmed from a disagreement between the state and federal governments over whether Maine was complying with Title IX , the federal law that bans discrimination in education based on sex.
Soon after the secretary’s letter was sent, Maine’s Department of Education could not access several sources of federal funds for a state nutrition program, according to the court’s written order.
The lawsuit, brought by state Attorney General Aaron Frey, states that the child nutrition program received or was due to receive more than $1.8 million for the current fiscal year. Prior year funds that were awarded but are currently inaccessible total more than $900,000, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit also says that the program was anticipating about $3 million that is typically awarded every July for summer meal program sponsor administration and meal reimbursement.
The dispute between Maine and the Trump administration has roots in the president’s push to deny federal funding to the state over transgender athletes. In February, the president and governor sparred during a meeting at the White House. As the president discussed an executive order on transgender athletes, he sought out Mills and asked her if she’d comply with it.
Hodgdon, Maine’s local school board has voted to support Donald Trump’s view on Title IX
She told him she’d comply with state and federal law.
‘You’d better comply,’ Trump warned. ‘Otherwise, you’re not getting any federal funding.’
The governor responded that she’d see the administration in court.
Woodcock wrote that his order did not directly address the larger dispute that formed the ‘backdrop of the impasse.’
The court’s order came the same day Maine officials said the state would not comply with a ban on transgender athletes in high school sports in the wake of a Trump administration finding that the state violated antidiscrimination laws by allowing the students to participate.
The U.S. Education Department said in March that an investigation concluded the Maine Department of Education violated the federal Title IX law by allowing transgender girls to participate on girls’ teams.
