Mills’s opposition to the Trump administration’s anti-transgender agenda comes as a powerful network of pro-transgender businesses, interest groups, and nonprofit organizations continues to influence politics in Maine. These organizations are among the largest employers in Maine, put aside millions of dollars for political spending every election cycle, and maintain robust lobbying operations, according to a Washington Examiner review of public records.

Pro-transgender organizations spent nearly $2.5 million on political activities during Maine’s 2022 general election, when Mills was reelected, campaign finance records show.

The Maine People’s Alliance, the largest spender among these groups, operates the Maine Beacon, a news outlet that frequently publishes pro-transgender stories. Recently, for instance, the publication ran a story praising Mills’s defiance of Trump.

“As Pres. Donald Trump continues his attacks on trans Mainers and other members of the LGBTQ+ community, Maine is still one of the best states for LGBTQ+ equality,” the piece reads. “Advocates for the community say a key strategy in opposing Trump is taking his orders with a grain of salt.”

In addition to running the Maine Beacon, the Maine People’s Alliance also cites support for child sex change operations when making political endorsements and highlights its advocacy for the rights of “members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Powerful pro-transgender interests have a history of working to block anti-transgender legislation in other states. In 2021, for instance, then-Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota vetoed legislation that would have banned biological males from playing girls’ sports following pressure from Amazon, the NCAA, and other corporations. Republican lawmakers told National Review after the veto that Sanford Health, a healthcare conglomerate that performed sex change operations on minors, had a long history of working behind the scenes to block conservative legislation, including the girls’ sports bill. 

Sanford Health was able to leverage its close relationship with Noem and the fact that it serves as the state’s largest employer to win support for its pro-transgender agenda, according to National Review. 

Like in South Dakota, the pro-transgender healthcare industry commands considerable influence in Maine. MaineHealth, a healthcare system that provides transgender medical treatments, was the largest private employer in Maine as of mid-2023, the most recent period for which data are available. Not far behind it was Maine General Health, which ranked fifth, and Northern Light Health, in sixth place. Both also provide transgender healthcare services. Examining all employers in the state, these three healthcare systems directed among the most donations to Mills during her 2022 run for governor. 

While it is not publicly known how much money these healthcare providers make from transgender medical care, the cost of treatment for individuals can easily exceed $100,000, according to Business Insider. Such high costs can make transgender medical care a source of considerable income for hospital systems. 

“Northern Light Health believes all students should have access to school sports as there are many positive health benefits from participating in athletics,” a spokesperson for the health system told the Washington Examiner. “The governing bodies that regulate those sports are best equipped to determine how sports competition should be regulated, and we would defer to their expertise on that matter.”

Planned Parenthood is also a major force in Maine — and a major provider of “gender affirming hormone therapy.” In addition to hormone therapy, Planned Parenthood locations in Maine also provide surgery referrals and legal support for transgender-identifying individuals. Maine Planned Parenthood clinics saw over 31,000 patients during fiscal 2023, roughly 10% of whom received some form of “gender-affirming care,” according to an annual report from the organization.

Planned Parenthood’s various arms spent over half a million dollars on political activities in Maine in 2022, according to campaign finance records. 

The Soros family’s Democracy PAC II was another major spender in Maine during the 2022 election, spreading nearly $400,000 across a variety of political operations that cycle. Open Society Foundations, the Soros family’s philanthropic empire, has been a major force in funding the transgender movement for years. 

Other major spenders in Maine politics with pro-transgender views include PhRMA, the primary trade association representing the pharmaceutical industry; Equality Maine, a statewide political organization that advocates LGBT rights; and the Tides Foundation, a Democratic-aligned dark money group that serves as a major funder of LGBT activist groups.

Organizations like these often flex their muscle by directly lobbying on legislation.

Northern Light Health and MaineHealth both maintain lobbyists in the state, according to public records. Planned Parenthood and Equality Maine keep lobbyists on retainer as well.

HOSPITALS CONDUCTING TRANSGENDER PROCEDURES ON CHILDREN SUPPORTED BY BILLIONS IN TAXPAYER DOLLARS

Trump’s spat with Mills could soon escalate. Shortly after the two had their verbal confrontation, the Department of Education opened an inquiry into Maine to investigate its Title IX compliance. 

The Maine Governor’s Office, Equality Maine, the Soros family, PhRMA, Pfizer, Planned Parenthood Northern New England, the Maine People’s Alliance, MaineHealth, and Maine General Health did not respond to requests for comment.