“President Trump, before he was elected, this has been a huge issue for him,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said. “Pretty simple: girls play in girls’ sports, boys play in boys’ sports.”
The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against the state of Maine for refusing to comply with a government-recommended ban on the participation of transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports.
The lawsuit was filed several weeks after Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, made national headlines by engaging in a highly-publicized exchange with White House officials.
“We’ll see you in court,” said Mills, promising to defend the state’s stance on transgender athletes.
The U.S. Department of Justice has, under the Trump administration, made limiting transgender rights a priority. In a press conference announcing the lawsuit, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that other states could face similar action if they don’t comply with the president’s sports mandates.
“President Trump, before he was elected, this has been a huge issue for him,” Bondi said. “Pretty simple: girls play in girls’ sports, boys play in boys’ sports.”
“Men play in men’s sports,” she said, “women play in women’s sports.”
The issue of gender identity was a flashpoint throughout the last election cycle. During his 2024 campaign, Trump said that, if re-elected, he would take steps to protect the integrity of women’s sports. Aside from prohibiting transgender athletes in girls’ sports, trump also signed executive orders attempting to offer a conventional, biologically-based definition of sex.
Mills, meanwhile, claims that the administration’s pressure tactics are designed to force Maine into ignoring its own human rights laws.
“This matter has never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls, as has been claimed,” Mills said. “[I]t is about states rights and defending the rule of law against a federal government bent on imposing its will, instead of upholding the law.”
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said that he is very confident that Maine’s legal position is strong.
“Our position is further bolstered by the complete lack of any legal citation supporting the Administration’s position in its own complaint,” Frey said in a press release. “While the President issued an executive order that reflects his own interpretation of the law, anyone with the most basic understanding of American civics understands the president does not create nor interpret law.”
Maine is also continuing to litigate a separate lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In that case, Maine claims that the Trump administration unlawfully froze federal funds earmarked for the state’s education program; the White House insists that the funds were only held because Maine failed to comply with Title IX law.
A federal judge has since ordered the administration to release funds for Maine’s child nutrition program.
Sources
Trump administration sues Maine over participation of transgender athletes in girls sports
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