AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills refused Monday to take a stance on Maine’s policies governing transgender students’ participation in athletics that sparked a feud with President Donald Trump, saying the topic was “worthy of a debate” in the State House.
The Democrat made those comments after an annual Blaine House event celebrating the maple industry. It was the first time that Mills has spoken to reporters since Trump threatened Maine’s federal funding last month, sparking her viral exchange with the president at a White House event and unprecedented federal investigations of state institutions.
Mills has staunchly defended the state’s ability to legislate the issue, but her ambiguous stance on the merits of Maine’s posture was notable because of mounting conservative criticism and national polls that show public sentiment running hot against policies like this.
“If [lawmakers] wish to change it, they have the authority to change it, but you don’t change it by executive order or by wishing it differently,” the governor said after being asked about her personal stance on the issue. “It’s worthy of a debate, a full, democratic debate.”
Maine’s policies drew national attention after a post by Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, that identified and pictured a transgender high schooler who recently won a state indoor track title. It went viral in conservative media and drew the eyes of the president, who issued an executive order last month seeking to bar transgender students from girls sports.
That conflicts with the Maine Human Rights Act, which Mills and the Democratic-led Legislature amended in 2021 to extend anti-discrimination protections for gender identity in schools. It led the Maine Principals’ Association to allow scholastic athletes to automatically participate under the gender they identify with, revising an earlier policy that examined requests case by case.
Maine is one of 23 states with these kinds of policies in effect, according to the Movement Advancement Project. The Trump administration has put forward an untested legal theory that those states are violating Title IX, a law barring sex-based discrimination in schools. That argument underlies active investgiations in Maine, Minnesota, California and Massachusetts.
The Maine Human Rights Act has had gender identity protections since 2005. It is unclear how many transgender athletes there are in Maine. From 2013 to 2021, the principals’ association considered 56 requests from those to participate on a high school sports team consistent with their gender identity, only four of whom were transgender girls.
Despite the relatively small number of transgender athletes, their participation in female sports has become a major culture-war issue that has focused on winning athletes. A New York Times-Ipsos survey in January found that 79 percent of Americans think transgender women should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports.
Maine Republicans have submitted bills that would overturn the current policy, and there are signs that some Democrats agree with them. Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith, R-Palermo, said she would have liked to have heard a stronger stance from Mills because of her potential to sway Democrats.
“They’re following her lead as well, and so far, it doesn’t seem that her lead is to separate the sports,” Smith said.