AUGUSTA, Maine — High school students took center stage at the State House on Thursday to testify on Republican proposals that would ban transgender girls from girls sports, the issue over which President Donald Trump has targeted Maine.
The marathon day of testimony before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee focused on bills seeking to ban transgender girls from competing in sports aligned with their gender identity. Others go further to cover bathrooms, shelters and how teachers refer to transgender kids.
Soren Stark-Chessa, a transgender girl who is a junior at Maine Coast Waldorf School in Freeport and who has been singled out for her top finishes in cross country running, skiing and track events, said she “wasn’t existing openly” earlier in her life. That made it “impossible” to feel “connected to the kids that I competed with or to form real bonds with them.”
“Trans children are an extremely vulnerable demographic, and running has been extremely important in helping me find a way through hardship,” Stark-Chessa said in opposing the bills.
Madeline Hill, a senior at Valley High School in Bingham, recalled the joy of winning the school’s first girls state basketball title in March but said “watching other women athletes have all their hard work go down the drain just because of a singular boy is extremely upsetting.”
“Everyone should be respected regardless of their gender identity,” Hill said while testifying in support of the bills. “However, we need to recognize the advantages that biological boys have over biological girls, which was the original intent of Title IX.”
The measures look unlikely to pass in the Democratic-led Legislature but a few majority party members in the House that has a narrow 76-73 split have signaled they may agree with banning transgender girls from female sports. Gov. Janet Mills has only said the state’s policies are “worthy of a debate.” Polling has found 64 percent of Mainers believe transgender female athletes should not compete in sports aligned with their gender identity.
Proponents and opponents of the bills had a noticeable presence at the State House on Thursday, with a few overflow areas set up. The building was not as crowded as it was during 2023 debates on abortion-rights measures, for example, with many students leaving after their testimony to return to their schools.
Rep. Liz Caruso, R-Caratunk, has a sports-focused bill that would also require public schools to designate bathrooms, changing rooms and sleeping areas for use by either “only” females or only males, while Rep. Sheila Lyman, R-Livermore Falls, proposed requiring public school staff to refer to a minor student by the name listed on their birth certificate unless their parent provides permission or official documentation of a legal name or gender change.
The Maine Principals’ Association has said two transgender girls were competing this school year, including a student Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, singled out in a viral social media post in February after they won a state track and field title. That post made its way to Trump, who called out and clashed with Mills at a White House event that same week. The Trump administration then launched an ongoing campaign to target Maine’s federal funding.
“Maine shouldn’t wait until after this is a more prevalent and widespread occurrence,” Caruso said, adding that transgender girls under her bill could still compete in boys sports or on co-ed teams.
But transgender children and their parents alluded Thursday to the elevated suicide risk for transgender youth. Felix Markosian, an Ellsworth High School senior, shared how a transgender friend messaged them to say, “I don’t know what I would do if these bills passed.”
Lawmakers have expanded the Maine Human Rights Act that has been in place since 1971 to ban discrimination to cover additional categories over the years, such as by first adding transgender protections in 2005 and covering gender identity in education in 2021.
The Maine Principals’ Association, which is officially neutral on the Republican bills, has cited those changes in standing by its policies rather than changing rules in response to Trump’s February executive order seeking to ban transgender female athletes from female sports. Rep. Mike Soboleski, R-Phillips, put forward a bill up for a hearing Thursday to remove gender identity from the Maine Human Rights Act.
Trump’s Justice Department has sued Maine over the issue in a case that could wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court as Trump tries to reinterpret the landmark Title IX law by arguing it does not allow transgender female athletes to compete in scholastic sports. Maine is among 22 states that allow transgender students to compete in sports aligned with their gender identity, while 26 states have bans in place. Some bans are facing legal challenges.
Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat whose office is defending Maine in court, testified against the bills and noted a federal appellate court ruled last year that a West Virginia law was violating Title IX by blocking a 13-year-old transgender girl from competing in sports.
The bills up for hearings Thursday will face committee votes before going to the House and Senate for floor votes in the coming weeks. The Legislature is seeking to adjourn by mid-June.
