President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Maine will not receive any more federal funding until the Democratic-run state complies with his recent executive order barring men from competing in women’s sports.
Trump’s executive order, entitled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” invoked Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded institutions, to prevent transgender-identifying men from competing with female athletes. The directive also directs the department of Education to withhold funding from any public school that prioritizes gender identity over biological sex with its sports policies.
Maine was one of the states that indicated it wouldn’t comply with the order.
“I heard men are still playing in Maine,” the president told a gathering of Republican governors in Washington, D.C.
“I hate to tell you this, but we’re not going to give them any federal money. They are still saying, ‘We want men to play in women’s sports,’ and I can not believe that they’re doing that,” he said. “So we’re not going to give them any federal funding, none whatsoever, until they clean that up.”
The president’s remarks came after Maine’s governing body for high school sports said it will protect “human rights” when determining athletic eligibility based on a student’s gender identity.
“The executive order and our Maine state Human Rights Act are in conflict, and the Maine Principal’s Association will continue to follow state law as it pertains to gender identity,” Mike Burnham, executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association, told local radio station Maine Public.
Earlier this week, Maine Republican lawmaker Laurel Libby posted photos of a high school male athlete who won a pole-vaulting event in the female track and field championship. The boy’s face was clearly visible, while the girls’ faces remained blurred. The state representative refused to remove the viral post, despite a request from the Democratic house speaker to do so.
“President Trump pledges to step in to protect girls’ sports in Maine and clean up the failure by both the Maine Principals’ Association and the Maine Democrat Majority!” Laurel Libby said in praising Trump’s comments Thursday night.
High school athletic associations in California and Minnesota also expressed opposition to the federal order in favor of state law. They are currently under investigation by the Department of Education for potential Title IX violations.
State laws do not override federal anti-discrimination laws, the department said. Therefore, the groups are subject to investigation.
Meanwhile, other high school sports bodies in blue states have capitulated to the Trump administration. On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association announced it would only allow female athletes to compete in women’s sports. The group previously allowed transgender-identifying men to compete with women, starting in 2013.
Trump signed the executive order on National Girls and Women in Sports Day earlier this month, with support from female athletes at the signing ceremony.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association swiftly updated its transgender-participation policy in compliance with the order to prevent men from competing alongside and against women, although they are allowed to practice together. The NCAA announced Trump’s order “provides a clear, national standard” that it promises to follow, despite its preexisting trans policy.
The Department of Education recently urged the NCAA to rescind the various sports accolades that men stole from women during the progressive Biden administration. It remains unclear if the NCAA will comply with the request.
In a bombshell study, the United Nations found that over 600 female athletes across 29 sports lost out on nearly 900 medals that were awarded to transgender-identifying men because of the significant biological advantages that men possess.