Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has come out with additional support of the Trump administration's investigations into Maine's Department of Education over the issue of biological males competing in female sports.
"I believe that the State of Maine is under scrutiny because of the state law that allows biological males to play in girls' sports. And that is contrary, not just to the President's executive order, but what I believe is the very spirit and intent of Title IX, which was to provide sports and other athletic activities to girls in a safe and fair way," Collins said in an official statement on Monday.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights issued a final warning to the Maine's Department of Education regarding its refusal to comply with a directive to "protect women and girls from discrimination in sports or intimate spaces." The warning follows another investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' civil rights office initiated in March that found Maine in violation of Title IX for "continuing to unlawfully allow" trans girls to compete in girls' sports.
In February, Trump and Maine's Democrat Gov. Janet Mills argued during a governors meeting regarding the administration's executive order banning males from competing in women's and girls' sports. Mills proudly announced that her state will not comply.
"You'd better comply, otherwise you're not getting federal funding," Trump said. Since that time, Maine has been caught allowing transgender females, or those who were born male, to continue to compete in athletics against girls.
That same month the Democrat-controlled Maine legislature censored Republican Rep. Laurel Libby for a series of viral posts highlighting a male athlete's victory in the girls' state pole vaulting championships. In March, Collins and Independent Maine Sen. Angus King split on a vote barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's sports. The Republican-led Senate voted, 51-45, to approve the bill but it failed to advance as it needed 60 affirmative votes.
"Title IX, which was passed in 1972, has greatly expanded opportunities for girls and young women to participate in organized sports at the high school and college levels," Collins wrote in part. "It did so, in part, by mandating equal access to athletic resources and facilities on the basis of sex – not on the basis of gender identity.
"Safe and fair athletic competition has been one of the keys to the success of Title IX. That is why I do not believe that transgender athletes should compete in girls' and women's athletics. I will continue to advocate for Maine to receive its fair share of federal funding, something I have done successfully so far, but I support the original intent behind Title IX," Collins added.
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