WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against the state of Maine, accusing it of violating federal law by allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports, further escalating a high-profile legal and political battle over gender identity and Title IX enforcement.
The lawsuit, announced Wednesday, follows a prolonged dispute between President Donald Trump’s administration and Democratic Governor Janet Mills. The administration argues that Maine’s policies contravene Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education, by failing to exclude transgender girls—whom the administration classifies as biological males—from female athletic competitions.
Speaking at a Justice Department press conference, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi emphasized the administration’s position: “This has been a huge issue for him [President Trump]. Pretty simple: girls play in girls’ sports, boys play in boys’ sports.”
Several athletes joined Bondi at the event, including former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, a vocal opponent of transgender inclusion in women’s sports. Gaines, who tied with a transgender athlete at the 2022 NCAA championships, has become a prominent face of the movement and testified before legislators on the matter.
Trump has made transgender participation in sports a cornerstone of his 2024 campaign. Earlier this year, he signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” directing federal agencies to enforce Title IX based on sex assigned at birth rather than gender identity.
The Justice Department’s complaint cites examples in Maine, including a transgender athlete who won first place in pole vault and another who placed first in a women’s cross-country race. The government is seeking a court order requiring Maine to prohibit transgender girls from competing on girls’ teams across all public schools.
Maine’s Democratic leadership has refused to comply. In a strongly worded statement, Gov. Mills called the lawsuit an expected move in a broader federal campaign to force the state to abandon its own human rights protections.
“This matter has never been about school sports or the protection of women and girls, as has been claimed,” Mills said. “It is about states’ rights and defending the rule of law against a federal government bent on imposing its will.”
Maine previously sued the Trump administration after the Department of Agriculture paused funding for certain educational programs, claiming noncompliance with Title IX. A federal judge has since ordered those funds—intended for a child nutrition program—to be restored.
This legal battle marks a sharp reversal from the Biden administration’s approach, which sought to expand protections for transgender Americans. In contrast, Trump’s administration has pushed a stricter definition of sex in federal law, reversing previous guidance and setting the stage for legal showdowns nationwide.
Currently, 26 states have enacted laws or policies barring transgender girls from girls’ school sports. Many Republican-led states have also passed legislation restricting gender-affirming care for minors and limiting access to public facilities based on gender identity.
With other states like California and Minnesota potentially facing similar lawsuits, the Maine case may set a precedent for how far federal power can go in enforcing a narrow definition of sex under Title IX—and how fiercely states are willing to resist.
