AG Bondi Sues Maine To Keep Men Out Of Women’s Sports

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday morning that the Department of Justice is suing the state of Maine over its insistence that men compete against women in sports, breaking civil rights law.

The civil lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) comes after weeks of the state refusing multiple attempts from the federal government to comply with Title IX and protect women.

“We believe they are failing to protect women, and it’s not only an issue in sports. It is a public safety issue,” Bondi said at a press conference. “These boys are allowed to go in women’s restrooms, they are allowed to go in the women’s dressing rooms and get fully naked and change — biological boys — and change clothes in front of these young women. Maine’s leadership has refused to comply at every turn, so now, we have no other choice: We are taking them to court.”

“Some of these young women have endured vicious injuries, too, as a result of boys playing in their sports,” she added.

The lawsuit is seeking an injunction against Maine to stop it from allowing males in female sports, as well as have titles stolen by boys “returned to the young women who rightfully won these sports,” Bondi said. The attorney general said they may look to retroactively pull funding for past noncompliance.

The lawsuit comes after attempts from other federal agencies, like the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education, exhausted all options to enforce compliance. The Department of Education turned their investigation over to the Department of Justice last week, escalating the Trump administration’s standoff with Maine, whose governor, Democrat Janet Mills, is being obstinate in her persistence to enforce harm upon women and young girls.

“The state of Maine is discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports — pretty basic stuff,” Bondi said. “This is a violation of Title IX. The Department of Justice will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports. This is about sports, this is also about these young women’s personal safety.”

Bondi pointed to a couple examples in Maine alone where male athletes beat all the women in the competition to steal a title. She noted that in ski and cross country races, a male, who would have come in 43rd among other males, came in first among females. In indoor track and field, another male “beat every other girl by a significant margin. That qualified him for regional championships. That took a spot away from a young woman in women’s sports — shame on him,” Bondi said.

The attorney general read aloud part of a letter received by the Department of Education from Maine’s attorney general, stating, “We will not sign the resolution agreement. We do not have revisions, or a counter proposal. We agree we are at an impasse. Nothing in Title IX, or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transg4ender girls and women to participate on girls’ and women’s sports teams.”

“Well, they must not be reading the same Title IX that we’re reading,” Bondi said.

Bondi was flanked by Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Republican Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby, who has been vocal on this issue to the point of being stripped of her rights to properly represent her constituents by Democrats in the state House.