As the deadline set in a letter of impasse the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights had sent to Maine state officials two weeks ago drew down to its final hours, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office issued a response saying the state would neither sign a resolution agreement nor propose an alternative, setting into motion a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice.
“Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulation prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls’ and women’s sports teams,” Maine Assistant Attorney General Sarah Forster wrote to the regional director of the U.S. DOE’s Office of Civil Rights. Her letter chided the federal agency for wrongly interpreting the statute and added that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution also justified Maine’s policy — in direct defiance of the federal instruction.
That letter prompted a fast response from the DoE’s civil rights office:
“Accordingly, OCR has determined compliance cannot be secured by informal or voluntary means,” it wrote, adding: “OCR now refers this matter to the Department of Justice with a recommendation for appropriate proceedings to enforce all legally available remedies.”
The response to Maine’s attorney general went on to notify the state that it is “initiating administrative proceedings to suspend, terminate, defer final approval, and/or refuse to grant or continue Federal financial assistance to the MDOE.
The federal government contributes approximately ten percent of Maine’s overall education budget, or an estimated $290 million annually.
This is the second referral a federal agency has made regarding Maine to the Justice Department. Last month the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also referred the state for enforcement on the same issue. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiated a partial freeze on funding to Maine, prompting a lawsuit filed against them by AG Frey’s office last week.
U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), who chairs the powerful Appropriations Committee, said in a post on X late Friday that “while I will continue to advocate strongly for federal funding for Maine, I disagree with the state’s position and instead support the original intent behind Title IX.” By original intent, she presumably meant protecting females from discrimination, which the participation of biological males in female sports is broadly considered to be.
Recent polling suggests that nearly two-thirds of Mainers disapprove of the state’s policy to insist on transgender participation in female sports.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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