Trump admin moves to withhold federal funds from Maine over trans athlete dispute [View all]
Source: ABC News
April 11, 2025, 7:24 PM
The U.S. Department of Education said Friday that it will proceed with withholding federal funds from Maine after officials in the state refused to sign a Title IX resolution agreement that would bar transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports in the state. The matter will also be deferred to the Department of Justice "for further enforcement action," the department said in a statement.
The actions come after the state informed the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights in a letter on Friday that the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Office of the Attorney General will not sign the resolution agreement.
"Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulations prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on girls and womens sports teams," Maine Assistant Attorney General Sarah Forster stated in the letter. "Your letters to date do not cite a single case that so holds. To the contrary, various federal courts have held that Title IX and/or the Equal Protection Clause require schools to allow such participation."
Federal officials last month said they found the Maine Department of Education in noncompliance with President Donald Trump's executive order issued on Feb. 5 that bans transgender athletes from participating in women's sports.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-admin-moves-withhold-federal-funds-maine-trans/story?id=120731338