WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Trump administration said Wednesday it is suing Maine鈥檚 education department for not complying with the government's push to ban in girls sports, escalating a dispute over whether the state is abiding by a federal law that bars discrimination in education based on sex.
The lawsuit follows weeks of feuding between the Republican administration and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills that has led to threats to cut off crucial federal funding and a clash at the White House when she told the president: 鈥淲e鈥檒l see you in court.鈥�
鈥淲e are going to continue to fight for women,鈥� Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a news conference alongside former University of Kentucky swimmer , who has emerged as a public face of the opposition to transgender athletes.
Trump鈥檚 departments of Education and Health and Human Services the Maine agency is violating the federal Title IX antidiscrimination law by allowing transgender girls to participate on girls teams.
The lawsuit reflects a stark philosophical turnabout from the position on gender identity issues taken during Democratic administrations.
Under President Joe Biden, the government to protect transgender people. In 2016, the Justice Department, then led by Attorney General Loretta Lynch, sued North Carolina over a law that required transgender people to use public restrooms and showers that corresponded the gender on their birth certificate.
Maine officials have refused to agree with a settlement that would have banned transgender students from sports, arguing that the law does not prevent schools from letting transgender athletes participate.
Trump signed an executive order in February, 鈥淜eeping Men Out of Women鈥檚 Sports,鈥� that gave federal agencies wide latitude to ensure entities that receive federal funding abide by Title IX in alignment with his administration鈥檚 interpretation of 鈥渟ex鈥� as the gender someone was assigned at birth.
Trump was joined at the signing of that order by Gaines and other female athletes who were in support of a ban. Gaines tied with a transgender athlete for fifth place in a 2022 NCAA championship and has testified before lawmakers across the country on the issue. She and others frame the issue as women鈥檚 rights.
During a February meeting with governors, Trump to pull federal funding from Maine if the state did not comply with his executive order. Mills responded: 鈥淲e鈥檒l see you in court.鈥�
Maine sued the administration this month after the Department of Agriculture said it was pausing some money for the state鈥檚 educational programs because of what the administration contended was Maine鈥檚 failure to comply with the Title IX law. A federal judge on Friday ordered the administration to unfreeze funds intended for a Maine child nutrition program.
Sarah Foster, Maine's assistant attorney general, said last week in a letter to the Education Department that nothing in the law 鈥減rohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls鈥� and women鈥檚 sports teams.鈥�
Questions over the rights of transgender people have become a major political issue in the past five years.
have laws or policies barring transgender girls from girls school sports. GOP-controlled states have also been banning gender-affirming health care for transgender minors and in schools and sometimes other public buildings.
In his , Trump campaigned against the participation of transgender athletes in sports. As president, he has signed to do that and to use , rather than gender, for federal government purposes. The orders are being .
Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker And Patrick Whittle, The Associated Press
