Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ office on Thursday reacted to news that the Trump administration had found the state in violation of federal civil rights law for its inclusion of transgender girls in sports by suggesting the federal investigation was a sham.
Neither the attorney general’s office, the governor’s office, the Maine Department of Education, nor the Greely school district, whose transgender athlete was the subject of national media attention, were contacted directly by the U.S. Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights during its investigation, which lasted four days, according to state and local officials.
A state lawmaker who oversees education matters said he was “in awe” over that timeline.
“Nothing happens that fast,” said Sen. Joe Rafferty, D-York, who chairs the Maine Legislature’s committee on education and cultural affairs.
The federal agency found on Feb. 25 that the Maine Department of Education had violated the anti-discrimination law Title IX by denying girls “an equal opportunity” to participate in athletics by allowing “male athletes to compete against female athletes,” according to its determination letter.
Under the Maine Human Rights Act, Maine allows its few transgender students to participate on sports teams that reflect their gender identity. But President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off Maine’s federal funding over its practices and launched three federal investigations into various Maine departments and entities.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for Mills confirmed the governor’s office had not been questioned by federal investigators and referred Bangor Daily News reporters to the governor’s previous reaction to a different Title IX investigation by the U.S. Department of Education.
“I would also direct you to the Governor’s previous statement,” spokesperson Ben Goodman wrote in an email, “in which she said: ‘I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined.’”
It has not been immediately clear what the violation finding could mean for Maine. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said on Wednesday that the U.S. DHHS has not cut any funding to the Maine Department of Education.
“No action has been taken as of yet,” the spokesperson, Danna Hayes, said.
However the violation letter was referred to the U.S. Department of Justice “to enforce any rights of the United States,” it stated, if “noncompliance or threatened noncompliance cannot be corrected by informal means.”
A representative for the U.S. DHHS’s Office for Civil Rights did not immediately respond to questions on Thursday seeking to understand what its finding means for Maine or how it conducted its investigation.
Rafferty, the lawmaker, said he had known of media reports about the federal government’s inquiries into Maine, but he had not seen any proof that any had been concluded until a BDN reporter contacted him Thursday morning and provided him with a copy of the federal government’s notice of determination letter.
“They can launch that kind of investigation and make a determination in four days? That’s kind of bizarre. That doesn’t happen,” he said in an interview, stating that he was in disbelief at the pace of the investigation and its outcome.
Rafferty expected such an inquiry would last much longer and involve interviews or hearings with state officials, he said. He instead compared the federal government’s actions to “a mirage.”
“But ultimately we are going to get to the bottom of it, and that will take place in a courtroom setting. That is what I see happening,” Rafferty said. “I don’t think it will be a simple solution, but it will take place in court.”
Democratic members of Maine’s congressional delegation also questioned the federal government’s actions.
“The state’s policy is wrong, and the Legislature should reverse course. It’s an issue of fairness for girls in sports,” U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, who represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, said in a statement. “But as a member of Congress, I oppose any effort at the federal level to withhold all education funding and undermine school quality for every child in Maine. If individual school districts or athletic programs are undermining fairness in girls’ sports, they should shoulder the responsibility — not the whole state.”
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, representing the state’s more liberal 1st District, rejected the Trump administration’s claim that Maine was violating federal law, calling it “legally dubious — to put it mildly.”
“That the Justice Department could complete this investigation in four days, without asking Maine officials a single question, and given the complexity of the underlying dispute, demonstrates how unserious this process has been,” she said. “This isn’t justice. It’s a political grievance in search of a legal theory.”
After the BDN reported the notice of violation Wednesday night, Republican lawmakers who hold a minority in the Maine House of Representatives released a statement urging the governor to change her stance.
“Allowing biological boys to compete with our girls, is not only unpopular, and unfair, but it is also illegal. Governor Mills should abandon this indefensible position and uphold Title IX protections for our girls,” said House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor.
Erin Rhoda is the editor of Maine Focus and may be reached at erhoda@bangordailynews.com. Reporter Callie Ferguson may be reached at cferguson@bangordailynews.com.