Title IX, the 1972 law that bans schools from gender discrimination, has resurfaced recently due to the Trump Administration’s effort to use it to ban transgender athletes from school sports. Though most states and organizations comply with this new version of the law, Maine Governor Janet Mills has pushed back against it, causing tension between the governor and the Trump Administration.
An investigation into Maine’s policy that allows transgender people to participate in high school athletics was launched on February 21, 2025, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, and ended four days later with the conclusion that Maine violated Title IX. However, the investigation did not include any interviews, data collection, or negotiations. Maine was informed of this finding through email.
A letter was later sent to Maine’s Attorney General’s Office from the acting director of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that specified that “MDOE [Maine Department of Education] violates Title IX by denying female student-athletes in the State of Maine an equal opportunity to participate in, and obtain the benefits of participation, ‘in any interscholastic, intercollegiate, club or intramural athletics’ offered by the state by allowing male athletes to compete against female athletes in current and future athletic events.”
What does this mean for Maine? Maine could sue, but if they don’t sue or comply, then the federal government could withhold funding from schools until it does. Though it is unclear exactly how much funding could be withheld, it is assumed based on past funding amounts that Maine schools could go without upwards of $700,000 in funds. However, Governor Janet Mills has not yet responded, so what will happen next remains blurry.
