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CV NEWS FEED // The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against the state of Maine Wednesday, accusing it of violating Title IX by allowing male athletes to compete in women’s sports.
“The state of Maine is discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports, pretty basic stuff,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “This is a violation of Title IX.”
“If one young woman is in jeopardy—one—that’s enough for us to be standing up here.” Bondi added. “No boy will be undressing in a girl’s locker room. No boy will be walking in a woman’s restroom. And no boy, when we‘re finished with this, will be beating young girls in sports.”
The lawsuit comes after Democratic Gov. Janet Mills refused to comply with President Donald Trump’s February executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which directed the federal government to cut funding from educational institutions that fail to protect women and girls in athletic competition.
The order was praised by US bishops and pro-women’s sports advocates.
In February, Trump warned Maine could lose federal funding over its defiance, saying, “I hate to tell you this, but we’re not going to give them any federal money.”
Mills, however, called the president’s move unconstitutional and continued to push back.
“This matter has never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls, as has been claimed,” Mills said in a Wednesday statement. “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.”
Bondi also indicated that other states, such as California and Minnesota, could face similar lawsuits if they remain in violation of federal law.
“Pretty simple,” she said. “Girls play in girls’ sports, boys play in boys’ sports. Women play in women’s sports, men play in men’s sports.”
While the Department of Justice is asking the court to require Maine to bar males from competing in female sports, state officials maintain that federal law does not prevent so-called transgender athletes from competing.
