Maine school officials address refusal to ban trans athletes from girls' sports amid deadline for consequences

Friday is the authoritative deadline for Maine to comply with President Donald Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" enforcement bid oregon hazard a 2nd referral to the Department of Justice. 

The Maine Principal's Association (MPA) and the Maine Department of Education person already been referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and look a imaginable 2nd referral by the U.S. Department of Education connected Friday. The authorities has besides seen a frost successful backing from the USDA for its continued non-compliance.

The MPA and its president, Kim Liscomb, person travel nether section scrutiny successful caller weeks for failing to amend its policies connected trans jock inclusion successful nationalist schools, arsenic 1 resident, Nick Blanchard, has launched a petition to person Liscomb removed from her presumption arsenic main of Cony Middle and High School.

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The MPA released a connection addressing this scrutiny and the association's refusal to alteration its sex eligibility policy, suggesting it whitethorn alteration the argumentation if authorities is enactment successful place. 

"For the past twelvemonth Kim Liscomb, president of the Maine Principals’ Association Board of Directors, has faithfully executed her duties starring our organization. Recently, determination has been section attraction focused connected her, which could beryllium related to the Maine Principals’ Association’s argumentation connected sports participation. If Congress oregon the State Legislature changes the law, we volition accommodate our argumentation accordingly," work a transcript of the connection obtained by Fox News Digital.

"In her relation arsenic MPA president, Kim has shown leadership, compassion, and committedness to guiding the MPA with her extended acquisition successful education. When she finishes her one-year word arsenic president this summer, she volition beryllium missed."

MAINE RESIDENTS AGREE WITH KEEPING TRANS ATHLETES OUT OF GIRLS' AND WOMEN'S SPORTS, POLL SHOWS

The MPA antecedently addressed its archetypal referral to the DOJ, citing the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA), which was amended 4 years agone to adhd sex individuality arsenic a protected class, for its continued reluctance to prohibition trans athletes from girls' sports. 

"The Maine Principals’ Association is bound by the law, including the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA), which our information argumentation reflects," officials said. "We are incapable to motion immoderate solution statement that would mandate we make a caller argumentation that would interruption the instrumentality and MHRA." 

The sex individuality amendment to the MHRA stated that denying a idiosyncratic an adjacent accidental to enactment successful sports is favoritism against education. The Maine Principals’ Association updated its argumentation to let athletes to vie against the sex they place arsenic past year.

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A University of New Hampshire canvass released past week showed that astir Maine residents hold that transgender athletes should not vie successful girls’ and women’s sports.

The canvass showed that 64% of Maine residents judge transgender athletes "definitely should not" oregon "probably should not" enactment successful girls’ and women’s sports. Only 29% of Maine residents believed that transgender athletes "probably should" oregon "definitely should" vie against girls and women successful sports.

The canvass besides showed that 56% of Maine Democrats judge that transgender athletes should beryllium allowed to vie successful girls’ and women’s sports.

When it came to enacting policies to combat the contented of transgender information successful sports, the canvass showed that 50% of Maine residents wanted it astatine the national level, portion 41% judge argumentation should beryllium near up to the states.

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