In response to the Trump administration’s filing of a lawsuit last week to punish the state of Maine for refusing to ban female transgender athletes from school sports, Maine Governor Janet Mills said she was ready to defend her state in court.
“This matter has never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls, as has been claimed, it is about states rights and defending the rule of law against a federal government bent on imposing its will, instead of upholding the law,” Mills has stated, adding, “Let today serve as warning to all states: Maine might be among the first to draw the ire of the Federal government in this way, but we will not be the last,” as reported by Reuters.
Reported NBC-TV News Center Maine:
Speaking Thursday at the Maine Governor’s Conference on Tourism, Mills criticized the legal action, saying the federal government’s complaint includes no case law or legal precedent. She called the lawsuit a politically motivated move by the Trump administration meant to distract from broader national issues.
“To target one small group of people in America in order to divert attention from these other, real issues — to target people, a minority group, who are already targeted in cruel and unfair ways — is a sad and cruel distraction,” Mills said.
The Department of Justice filed the suit last month, accusing the Maine Department of Education of violating Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education.
Mills rejected that claim, arguing the administration is using federal funding as leverage to force compliance with what she described as a narrow legal interpretation. She said the real threats to women and girls come from limited access to healthcare and cuts to key programs.
“I’ve spent my career protecting and defending the rights of girls and women in the state of Maine,” Mills said. “If the president, or any of his cabinet, want to help protect and defend women and girls, they can start with healthcare… go on to the economy… talk about Social Security.”
Read the complete News Center Maine story here.
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