Latest news with #LD233
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maine Attorney General's Office pushed back on Title IX investigations, emails show
Entrance of the Maine Attorney General's office in the Cross Office Building in Augusta. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star) Last month, after receiving notice that Maine was in violation of federal law for allowing transgender girls to play on girls' sports teams, the Maine Attorney General's Office pushed back on federal findings, questioning both the process and the conclusion of the investigation. But according to records obtained through a Freedom of Access Act request, the office also pointed federal officials to two proposed bills — LD 233 and LD 868 — that would ban trans athletes. Whether these bills will alter the course of the investigation is unknown, but one thing is clear: the federal government is now paying attention to these proposals. 'We have reviewed the proposed legislation at LD 233 and LD 868 that your team sent on Wednesday,' wrote Daniel Shieh, Associate Deputy Director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights in an email on March 17. 'We are not prepared to stay the investigation at this time, but please let us know if those bills become law in Maine.' The two bills are among several proposals introduced this session by Republican lawmakers aimed at restricting transgender students' participation in school sports. Neither has had a public hearing yet. LD 233, sponsored by Rep. Katrina Smith of Palermo, would require student-athletes to participate in sports based on their 'biological sex' and would prohibit transgender girls from joining girls' teams in public schools. LD 868, introduced by Rep. David Haggan of Hampden, is similar in scope, reinforcing gender-based athletic categories and citing competitive fairness and safety. Republican lawmakers have urged Maine to comply with federal directives and walk back support of trans students' rights to athletics, locker rooms and bathrooms. 'This is not sustainable,' said Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) in a press conference on April 1. 'We're a poor state. We are heavily reliant on federal money. The governor needs to move on this.' In February, after an investigation that took a handful of days and concluded without any interviews, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights determined that Maine had violated Title IX, the federal law banning sex-based discrimination, and infringed upon the rights of cisgender girls by allowing trans girls to participate in girls sports. It held the Maine Department of Education for the violations, demanding the state change its policies. HHS claimed that the state department of education, by way of its relationship to the Maine Principal's Association and its receipt of federal funds, had violated Title IX. But the Attorney General's Office rejected the claim, arguing in a letter sent on March 4 that the federal government had overstepped its authority and mischaracterized the facts. In the letter, Assistant Attorney Generals Sarah Forster and Kimberly Patwardhan wrote that the February 21 notice from HHS 'did not specify how OCR planned to conduct its compliance review,' or explain what legal framework it would be based on, nor did it include attempts to discuss findings with the department or attorney general's office, or to reach a cooperative agreement 'No one from OCR contacted MDOE or the Maine OAG for further information or to discuss cooperation or compliance,' the letter stated, calling the entire process 'accelerated' and legally questionable. The letter also rejected the federal government's core argument — that the state department of education is responsible for policies governing high school athletics, which is overseen by the Maine Principal's Association. The attorneys stressed that the organization is a private, nonprofit corporation, not a state agency, and is neither created nor operated by the department. 'MDOE does not agree that it is in violation of Title IX, nor does it agree that OCR has laid out a sufficient factual or legal basis for such a determination,' Forster and Patwardhan wrote. Further undermining the federal claims, the letter pointed out factual inaccuracies in HHS's findings. One of the core justifications for the compliance review was that MDOE allegedly received more than $500,000 in federal assistance from the Administration for Community Living in 2024. However, that funding had already been transferred to the University of Maine at Augusta with approval from the federal agency in March 2024 — nearly a year before the review. 'There is a significant inaccuracy,' the attorneys wrote, attaching documentation to prove the transfer of funding. Shieh wrote back the next day with an amended compliance review notice, this time including the Principal's Association and Greely High School, where a trans athlete who competed on a girls team attends school. 'Although Maine claims 'MDOE is not responsible for interscholastic youth sports or athletic programs in Maine,' it distributes funds for staff salaries, school facilities, and transportation, which in turn support athletics and interscholastic competition,' the letter said. 'The fact that MDOE has ceded control over its activities to MPA does not limit its obligations under Title IX.' On March 12, HHS appears to have met with all three organizations based on the emails, and five days later, the agency sent the attorney general's office an amended determination, holding the department, the high school and the association in violation of Title IX, because they uphold the Maine Human Rights Act, which protects trans students by including gender identity among the list of protected classes. 'When a state law, such as Section 4601 of Maine's Human Rights Act, frustrates Congress's purpose and poses an obstacle to the accomplishment of those purposes, that state law is preempted,' the letter said. Rep. Michael Soboleski (R- Phillips) said he is introducing a bill to remove consideration of gender identity from the act, and asked Democrats and Mills to support the legislation in order to avoid the risk of losing federal funding. 'The problem is that the term gender identity and the Human Rights Act is being interpreted way too broadly by the left,' Stewart said in the press conference. 'And what it's saying is there's no boundary between men's and women's spaces.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US DHHS and Maine discussed bills to bar transgender participation in sports
Apr. 9—The Office of the Maine Attorney General spoke to the federal Department of Health and Human Services last month about a pair of bills proposed in Maine to exclude transgender girls from girls sports, records show. Following a virtual meeting the week of March 10, Assistant Attorney General Kimberly Patwardhan highlighted LD 233 and LD 868 in an email to Daniel Shieh, associate director of HHS' Office of Civil Rights. The correspondence was obtained through a public records request made by the Portland Press Herald. "Per our call earlier, the pending legislation that we mentioned is L.D. 233 and L.D. 868," Patwardhan wrote on March 12. Details of the conversation, including how those bills came up, were not clear Wednesday night. Shieh replied in an email five days later. "We have reviewed the proposed legislation at L.D. 233 and L.D. 868 that your team sent on Wednesday," he said. "We are not prepared to stay the investigation at this time, but please let us know if those bills become law in Maine." In that email, Shieh also attached an updated notice of determination, which expanded its scope to include the Maine Principals' Association and Greely High School alongside the Maine Department of Education for allegedly violating Title IX by allowing transgender girls to compete in girls high school sports. LD 233, presented by Rep. Richard Campbell, R-Orrington, would bar any school receiving state funding from allowing "a person whose biological sex assigned at birth is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designed for females." LD 868, presented by Elizabeth Caruso, R-Caratunk, would require athletic teams be designated for men, women or mixed participation, based on whether individuals have ever or will ever have a reproductive system that produces either eggs or sperm, designated female and male, respectively. The latter bill applies similar rules to bathrooms and changing spaces. It also bars government entities, accrediting organizations and athletic associations from entertaining complaints about the gender policy, and would allow individuals to sue educational institutions for knowingly violating the regulations. Neither the attorney general's office nor DHHS immediately returned requests sent late Wednesday for details about the meeting, including how the bills came up. Copy the Story Link We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others. We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion. You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs. Show less
