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Conservatives are rushing to critique the state’s wording of a ballot question that could ban transgender public school students from sports teams and private spaces that align with their gender identities.
Protect Girls Sports in Maine, the committee responsible for bringing the proposal to voters this November, criticized the state’s wording in a statement on Thursday. The group said the language released by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office is “not dutifully faithful to the proposed legislative text.”
The referendum is the latest push by conservatives to bar transgender athletes from sports teams, locker rooms and bathrooms that align with their gender identities. That change would require overriding the current interpretation of Maine’s Human Rights Act, which bars school districts from blocking students from using accommodations based on gender identity.
The draft language from Bellows’ office reads: “Do you want to change civil rights and education laws to require public schools to restrict access to bathrooms and sports based on the gender on the child’s original birth certificate and allow students to sue the schools?”
Protect Girls Sports criticized the question for its framing of accommodations for transgender students as “civil rights,” and said it left out some details, including the fact that the referendum would apply to locker rooms and other private spaces.
“Important language and definitions from our act have been lost in the question draft, and that must be addressed,” Leyland Streiff, the principal officer from Protect Girls Sport in Maine, said in a statement.
The secretary of state’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maine Policy Institute, a nonprofit conservative group that runs the Maine Wire and has advocated for school boards to buck the state’s transgender protections, also criticized the language.
“I would say that we’re not thrilled with the language that the secretary put together,” spokesman Jake Posik said, noting that the group is planning to suggest its own language for the question. “We’re also going to be activating Mainers to contact her office and let her know that the language that we’re going to end up constructing is a fairer and more objective way of wording it.”
The final clause of the question, which references possible lawsuits, is drawing particular ire. If passed, the referendum would create a path for students to sue districts they feel deprived them of athletic opportunities by allowing transgender participation. But some suggested the language around lawsuits may be intended to scare voters out of voting in favor of the referendum.
“The wording of that in particular is nefarious at best,” Posik said. “I think any goodwill that somebody might have about the objectiveness of Shenna Bellows … we waved bye-bye to that a long time ago.”
The question wording is not set in stone; Bellows’ office will review public comments submitted by May 7 before the language is finalized.
The referendum qualified for the ballot last month after being bankrolled by Illinois billionaire Richard Uilhien. It has drawn support from many Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.
Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural government as part of the partnership between the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, with additional support from BDN and Monitor readers.
