AUGUSTA — When voters head to the polls Tuesday, they will likely be asked if they’d like to sign a citizen initiative petition that proposes to ban transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.
A group called Protect Girls Sports in Maine is “very well organized” and prepared to be in several cities and towns across the state on Election Day, said spokeswoman Heidi Sampson.
“The demand is out there, the need is out there, and the polls show a vast majority of Mainers want to protect girls in sports,” said Sampson, a former Republican lawmaker from Alfred.
A March poll showed 64% of Maine residents believe transgender female athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports, according to the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
Majority Democrats in the Legislature defeated eight bills earlier this year that EqualityMaine described as “anti-trans.” In a statement, EqualityMaine Executive Director Gia Drew said a large contingent of supportive Mainers showed up at the State House to defeat the bills.
“The proposed ballot initiative drags the conversation about sports and bathrooms back into the public spotlight while most folks are more concerned about access to healthcare, putting food on the table, the cost of housing, and ensuring they have heat this winter,” she said.
The issue rose to national prominence in February when President Donald Trump called out Maine for its policy of allowing transgender girls to participate. Gov. Janet Mills told the president she would see him in court over the issue, insisting that Maine is following state and federal law when it comes to transgender rights.
The proposed citizen initiative — which if successful would go before voters in November 2026 — requires schools to designate all sports teams as male, female or co-ed. It defines sex as a person’s status at birth. It also requires public schools to maintain separate restrooms, locker rooms and shower rooms for girls and boys.
In addition, it allows students who are “deprived of an athletic opportunity” or injured by a transgender athlete to file a lawsuit.
Kristina Parker of Waterville signed on to the citizen initiative application, saying that she knows some of the girls who were upset when a transgender athlete participated in a track and field competition earlier this year.
She said the initiative allows transgender students to continue to participate in sports on co-ed teams. And while it may not affect a large number of people in Maine, it’s been an issue for female athletes nationally, she said.
“Even if it has not been much of an issue in Maine, that’s not something that we want to let come into Maine and cause disappointment and devastation for our girls who do play in sports,” said Parker, who works as the communications director for the Maine Republican Party.
She said although the party is not affiliated with the initiative, it supports the issue.
Drew said she believes those behind the initiative are “inspired by an outside national political agenda” that doesn’t fit with Maine values.
“We want to make it clear: the rights of trans kids is not up for debate,” she said. “We believe that all students — and all people — have the right to safety, dignity, inclusion and respect at school and beyond.”