Maine school authorities declared on Thursday that they will not abide by a planned deal from the administration of President Donald Trump that would prohibit transgender athletes from playing sports for girls.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Health and Human Services declared that the involvement of transgender athletes by the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, and a high school violates Title IX.
Following a public dispute over the topic between Trump and Democratic Maine Governor Janet Mills, the FBI probe was launched.
The institutions were given ten days by the health department to abide by a voluntary agreement to resolve the matter by prohibiting the athletes.
Both School Administrative District 51, which includes Greely High School, and the principals’ organization, which is in charge of high school athletics in the state, declared they would not abide by the agreement.
Greely High School, located in the Cumberland suburb of Portland, was fined by the federal health department due to an allegation that a transgender student had won a track competition for girls.
In a letter to the community on Thursday, the district stated that it will “continue to follow state law and the Maine Human Rights Act” in lieu of complying.
“To our students: Thank you for your maturity, perseverance, and dedication to learning through these distractions,” the district statement added. Please keep setting the example.
Additionally, according to a statement from the Maine Principals’ Association, it is “bound by the law, including the Maine Human Rights Act, which our participation policy reflects.”
“We hope the Maine Principals’ Association, Greely High School, and the Maine Department of Education will work with us to come to an agreement that restores fairness in women’s sports,” the agency stated in a statement earlier this month.
During a governors’ meeting at the White House last month, Mills and Trump argued about the topic.
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Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from Maine at the meeting if the state did not follow his executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in sports.
“We’ll see you in court,” Mills replied.
Maine may be prosecuted by the Justice Department after the U.S. Education Department found that the state had violated the Title IX antidiscrimination law.
This Information has been sourced from apnews.
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