The Department of Education launched an investigation into the state of Maine after a trans-identifying male track athlete won a state title in girls’ pole-vaulting last month.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced that the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, and Greely High School are each in violation of Title IX.
“The Maine Department of Education may not shirk its obligations under Federal law by ceding control of its extracurricular activities, programs, and services to the Maine Principals’ Association,” Anthony Archeval, Acting Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS, said in a press release.
“We hope the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, and Greely High School will work with us to come to an agreement that restores fairness in women’s sports.”
Since President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep males out of women’s sports in February, several states – including Maine – have come under investigation for refusing to comply. The others are California, Minnesota and Washington.
This decision represents the first investigation to close and the first to officially rule that Title IX had been violated by allowing a person born male to compete in girls’ sports due to the athlete’s gender identity, rather than biological sex.
