School officials in Maine stated Thursday they will not comply with the Trump administration’s demands to prevent trans girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports, instead they will “continue to follow state law and the Maine Human Rights Act.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducted a hasty investigation into Maine’s policy allowing transgender girls to participate in high school athletics. According to HHS, Maine’s Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, and a high school in Cumberland County, Maine, all violated Title IX.

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HHS cited Greely High School in the Portland suburb of Cumberland because there was a report of a transgender girl competing on the school’s track team who managed to win a track event.

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HHS sent a letter to the institutions on March 20, telling them that they have 10 days to settle the issue by banning transgender athletes from competing on teams matching their gender identity. 

The district issued its letter on Thursday to the community, stating it will not comply with the HHS demand because of Maine’s own laws preventing gender discrimination. The district statement also thanked the community for their perseverance 

“To our students: Thank you for your maturity, perseverance, and dedication to learning through these distractions. Please continue to lead the way,” the letter stated.

The Maine Principals’ Association also stated they are “bound by the law, including the Maine Human Rights Act, which our participation policy reflects.”

A spokesperson for Maine’s Department of Education referred the matter to the state attorney general’s office, which has yet to issue a statement.

Maine has been a trans sanctuary state since Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed L.D. 227 into law in April 2024. The measure protects transgender patients and healthcare providers from out-of-state prosecution, similar to House File 146 in the state of Minnesota.

This has resulted in Maine being targeted by the Trump administration, leading to Mills and Trump clashing last month during a governors’ meeting at the White House. Trump threatened to pull federal funding from the state of Maine.

Mills responded, “See you in court.”

The U.S. Department of Education has since concluded that Maine violated Title IX and handed the case over to the Department of Justice.

Because HHS threatened to withhold funding if Maine didn’t comply by March 30 means administration officials will have to decide whether to follow through with their threat and, if they do, the state will have to decide how to proceed. 

In the spirit of states’ rights, Mills could end up following through with her threat and suing the administration to keep it from overriding state law.

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