Maine judge upholds block of anti-trans initiative on November ballot

On Thursday, a Superior Court judge upheld the block of a referendum on transgender athletes from its November ballot, according to Maine Public.

The proposal, launched by Protect Girls' Sports in Maine, aimed to restrict transgender school athletes to compete only on teams that match their gender assigned at birth, or on co-ed teams. Further, it would enforce the use of separate “male” and “female” locker rooms, restrooms, and showers.

The campaign gained momentum in February, when the group submitted a petition with nearly 80,000 signatures to include the measure on the ballot. It was initially approved by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows; however, opponents quickly challenged the validity of many of the signatures.

In May, after reviewing the petition and holding a hearing that included both parties, Chief Deputy Secretary of State Katherine McBrien recommended that over 12,500 of the signatures be invalidated due to multiple issues — including forged signatures, petition circulators failing to file proper paperwork, duplicate signatures, and signatories not matching local voter registration records. Bellows agreed with McBrien's recommendation and blocked the measure from going to voters in November.

Maine Secretary of State, Shenna BellowsMaine.gov

Protect Girls' Sports appealed the decision in Maine's Superior Court, arguing that Bellows, a Democrat currently seeking a nomination for governor, exceeded her constitutional authority and denied petition signers their right of free speech. Then on Thursday of this week, in a 13-page ruling, Superior Court Justice Deborah Cashman denied the group's appeal and upheld Bellows' previous block of the initiative.

In response, the organization's committee released a statement saying it would continue to fight to get the measure on the ballot.

"[Protect Girls' Sports] is committed to continuing its efforts to allow the people of Maine to vote on the Protect Girls Sports legislation at the November general election," the group stated. "The committee remains confident in the challenges it raised to the Secretary’s decision and will seek review by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court."

Under current Maine law, students are allowed to compete on teams that align with their gender identity, not their sex assigned at birth, based on anti-discrimination protections in the state. But the policy has been the source of heated debate, with opponents arguing that allowing trans girls to play on female sports teams violates female athletes' civil rights due to gender-based biological differences that affect factors like strength and speed.

"The rules are in place to make sure that when a question goes on the ballot, voters can trust that it qualified fair and square," said David Farmer, campaign manager for the Campaign for Free and Fair Schools. "And in this case it did not. They took some shortcuts and got caught with their hand in the cookie jar."